THE CENTRAL Applications Office (CAO) which oversees college entry for more than 70,000 students is generating healthy annual profits.
Returns filed to the Companies Office show it had an after-tax surplus of €1.38 million last year and €1.37 million in 2009. Overall, the company has accumulated net assets of €5.6 million, with €3.6 million of that consisting of cash in the bank.
The profits generated seem certain to raise questions about the fees the CAO charges to process students’ applications.
Established in 1977 by the universities and the Higher Education Authority, the CAO is a private company.
This year applicants paid either a €40 standard fee or a discounted €30 “early bird” fee when submitting their application.
The CAO says these fees were reduced from €45 and €35 in 2010 because of the company’s profitability. Last year it generated more than €3 million in application fees.
The accounts also show that the Galway-based CAO paid more than €1 million in wages and salaries to 10 full-time staff and 13 seasonal/temporary workers in 2010.
The CAO says it will not release the income of individual members of staff but says pay levels are linked to those at NUI Galway.
The CAO accounts also show pension costs of €268,000 in 2010. The CAO said this was explained by the retirement last year of three members of staff.
This year it will process applications for entry to 43 colleges in the State.
Board members include several university presidents, representatives of the institutes of technology and teacher-training colleges. Tom Boland, the Higher Education Authority’s chief executive, is also a member of the CAO board.
In his report to the board, CAO director Paul McCutcheon, who is also registrar at the University of Limerick, warns “the possible reintroduction of third-level fees may reduce applicant numbers”. He also says the increase in emigration may reduce applications to the CAO.
Earlier this year the CAO was embroiled in controversy after students accused it of releasing the results of their HPAT exam for medicine prematurely and without notice.
The CAO, while apologising for any confusion among students, insisted that no 2011 HPAT results had been issued online. Instead it said it had completed a “test-run” of results using last year’s figures.
Last year the CAO website was targeted in a hacking attack that restricted access for thousands of Leaving Cert students checking the first round of course offers.
In early 2007 the CAO’s website struggled to cope with a rush of last-minute applications, and some students had difficulty in submitting an online application.
Responding to the controversy, the then minister for education Mary Hanafin explored the possibility of extending the CAO deadline to assist students.