The Irish Times - Thursday, July 12, 2012

SEN FLYNN, Education Editor

IN A significant development, online education provider Hibernia College is to offer degree courses in computing and business in association with the University of London which is one of the worlds top-ranked universities.

Students will pay 4,980 for the undergraduate degree courses which will be awarded by the University of London. The university has several constituent colleges, including the London School of Economic and University College London.

The Hibernia initiative which has already trained 4,000 primary teachers will test the growing market for private third-level education in the Republic.

Hibernia director Sen Rowland says the chief benefit for students is that they can gain a valuable degree from a top-ranked college without incurring accommodation, travel and other costs.

While the college hopes to enrol about 250 students in the first year of the programme, some observers believe that student demand for the courses could increase dramatically over the next five years.

More students could opt for more flexible, online courses as the student contribution fee for third-level colleges is set to rise to 3,000 by 2015.

There is also concern in some university circles that students here might see degree courses offered by top-ranked international colleges as more attractive than those from underfunded Irish institutes.

The three-year degree programmes on offer include: a B.Sc in Creative Computing; a B.Sc in Computing and Information Systems; a B.Sc in Management and a B.Sc in Business. A one-year diploma course in management for graduates is also available.

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Online college in link-up with top London university