Most prospective students will by now have received third-level course offers through the Central Applications Office (CAO), but those who will have to live away from home to attend college may yet face another challenge - finding suitable accommodation.
In what it has called an "accommodation crisis" for thousands of students beginning college this term, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) will stage an overnight protest outside Dáil Éireann on Monday to highlight the lack of affordable student accommodation, particularly in Dublin.
A slowing property market is said to be a major cause of the shortage of rental properties for students -there has been a 20 per cent drop since last year.
Accordingly, students are competing with workers who find themselves priced out of the property market and are opting to remain in rented accommodation.
A report published last week by property website daft.ie found the cost of renting in Dublin is at an all-time high, with an increase of 12 per cent in the last year.
In the student areas of Rathmines and Ranelagh in Dublin city, those seeking accommodation can expect to pay up to €800 per month for a room. Although rent has increased by 14 per cent in Cork city and Limerick city, the average cost of renting a room is significantly cheaper than in Dublin, at €350 and €250 per month respectively. Accommodation costs in Galway are similar to those in Cork, while students in Waterford city can expect to pay €220 per month.
While the figures represent a huge disparity in prices across the country, there is also a considerable difference in the standard of accommodation offered.
According to Martin Dunne, a vice-president of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) students union, students get better value when renting accommodation in cities outside Dublin. "We know of many students who settled for substandard, sometimes dangerous, living conditions in Dublin simply because they cannot find alternative accommodation in their price range and often do not know their rights as tenants," he said.
Since Monday, when students began receiving college offers through the CAO, DIT students union has been getting up to 50 queries per day about the lack of affordable accommodation in Dublin. The situation is largely similar in in Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, which only have a limited availability of on-campus accommodation.
The shortage of purpose-built accommodation for third-level students in Dublin will mean many students will have to endure long commutes from their home towns.
"In previous years, students have commuted daily to Dublin from towns in the midlands because they could not find suitable accommodation. This is seriously jeopardising their college education due to long hours spent travelling," says Oonagh Faulkner, housing officer for TCD.
Monday's protest is to gather support for the establishment of a Government taskforce on the student housing problem.
Meanwhile, students looking for accommodation should consult the USI website, www.usi.ie, for advice on the rental process.