Mature students now account for 5 per cent of full-time students and the proportion is growing with backing from Government and education pressure-groups alike.
Third-level institutions should be setting aside at least 15 per cent of full-time undergraduate places for mature students, according to the report of the Action Group on Access to Third Level Education. The report, released earlier this year, says this target should be reached by the year 2006.
This action group, which was set up by the Minister for Education, Dr Michael Woods in September 2000 to advise on the best ways of increasing third-level participation, reported earlier this year.
Its recommendations were welcomed by Aontas, the national association for adult education, which went further still and suggested that higher- and further-education programmes should be free to part-time students.
According to Berni Brady, director of Aontas, "the fact that fees are more often than not beyond the reach of the majority of low-paid workers acts as an unacceptable obstacle to participation".
A new study to be undertaken by the Higher Education Authority will review how the seven universities are performing in relation to a number of sectors, including mature students and others who enter college through routes other than the Leaving Certificate. Dr Don Thornhill, chairman of the HEA, says "recognition of work experience and flexible study arrangements are needed".
Earlier this year, the HEA published A Study of Non-completion in Undergraduate University Courses, which found that university can be challenging for mature students or those who work part-time. The report, said an Irish Times leader, poses some "huge challenges for policy makers", showing "that beyond the surface glamour of university life, there lurk some sad personal experiences".
But it's not all doom and gloom. A guide available from the adult education section of the Department of Education in Dublin is a useful resource for mature students considering a full-time undergraduate course. The 2001 guide provides basic general information for participants in the VTOS (Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme) and for mature students in general.
Increasingly, institutions are learning to respond to the needs of mature students. Last January, the Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street, began a new part-time design studies course. It is aimed at mature students with an interest in design issues and design language who may already be working in the broad design field.
In the D·n Laoghaire Youth Information Centre, there is a free and confidential service to help students to fill out college prospectuses and CAO forms as well as offering support to mature students returning to college.
A university foundation course run by the Dublin-based adult education specialists Pearse College aims to prepare mature students for third-level with two strands to suit different directions. There is a humanities strand and a science-based foundation programme.
St Patrick's College in Drumcondra, Dublin reserves 30 per cent of places for mature students on its BA in humanities. This course was introduced eight years ago.
Mature applicants are interviewed, sit a short aptitude test and write an essay. Some 9 per cent of mature students here achieve first-class honours, compared with only 2 per cent of school-leavers.
The HEA report found that NUI Maynooth headed the table for dropout rates - almost 28 per cent of students were not competing their courses. The second worst was DCU, where one in five students does not finish the course.
To remedy the situation, DCU has appointed Prof Peter Carr to the new post of academic counsellor to co-ordinate student support and "to provide a bridgehead for students finding difficulties in adapting to life in third level".
While the university is often commended for its record on access for marginalised groups, it now has to reflect on why students from these groups are failing to complete their courses and get their qualifications.
The report of the Action Group on Access to Third Level Education also recommended that mentoring systems should be put in place for adult students, and college staff should be experienced in dealing with problems particular to adult students.
The best way to approach adult learning is to contact the institutions directly. Most have adult education offices, and if they don't, the admission office will be happy to deal with your query.
A mature student is someone who is 23 years of age on or before January 1st of the year of entry to college, so those hoping to start this autumn should already be 23 or over.
Mature students are often those who chose to work in the home rather than go to college after leaving school, people who left school early and people who went to college for a period but dropped out.
Colleges do worry about the affect on their reputation of a high mature-student dropout rate, and this has tended to colour their selection procedures. While many use the CAO to process mature applications, allocating places remains the prerogative of the colleges.