UL is continuing to maintain its popularity with school leavers despite the decline in the number of Leaving Certs - and despite the negative publicity the city has received in recent years.
Eighteen months ago, the college's president, Dr Roger Downer went on RTÉ News to highlight the success of the college at a time when the city was receiving much unfavourable publicity. His strategy has paid dividends- applications for UL are up again this year.
UL has about 7,000 undergraduates and a further 1,000 postgraduates.
The university has one of the highest drop-out or non-completion rates in the Irish university sector.However, it also has a much more advanced access programme when compared to many other colleges.
The college is seeking to build its reputation in the research area under its president, Dr Roger Downer.
UL also takes great pride in its sporting facilities. It now boasts an Olympic-size 50-metre swimming pool.
In marked contrast to Dublin, most of the students come from State schools. Community schools in the general Munster area also send a fair number of their students to UL.But the numbers of students from the vocational sector going to UL is relatively low, a feature which has been evident in other colleges.
The Jesuit school Crescent College Comprehensive is one of the main feeder schools. This college, unlike other Jesuit schools, is non-fee-paying.
But grind schools also do well. The top feeder schools include Limerick Tutorial Centre and Bruce College.
Until recently, grind schools were thought to be a largely Dublin-based phenomenon but the latest school lists show how their influence is growing in all major urban centres. Yeats College in Sligo and Bruce College in Cork has featured prominently on other feeder school lists published by The Irish Times.
