Travel

Accommodation, of course, is just one part of the annual student bill. Other less obvious costs eat away at the monthly budget. Transport fees, for example, can mount.

While the estimated cost of travel in Sligo comes to € 17.50 per month that figure is nearly seven times higher in the capital.

University College Dublin advise students to purchase a monthly short hop ticket at a cost of € 119. At DIT travel costs are quoted as € 107.50.

Over the course of a nine- month academic year the variance become even more obvious – approximately € 157.50 in Sligo compared with € 1,071 in Dublin.

It’s a major cost often overlooked when families sit down to choose a third- level institution.

In Galway, yearly costs for transport in the city for students amounts to between € 360 and € 400 according to the third- level institutions there.

Of course, recreation too is a major component to any student’s week. All work and no play is not an option!