College students paying an increased £250 service charge this year will not know how much of that sum will be returned to them in funding for student unions, clubs and activities.
The Higher Education Authority working group on the student service charge has decided not to recommend that universities and third-level colleges should devote a stated minimum amount to such student activities.
The charge, which was increased to £250 from £150 last September, goes towards the cost of registration, examinations and student services.
There have been repeated accusations from student unions that many colleges use it for other purposes, from paying chaplains to running graduation ceremonies. Last summer the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, said he was concerned about the "lack of transparency in allocations to student unions and student services in some institutions."
He asked the chairman of the HEA to reconvene the virtually inactive working group set up by his predecessor, Ms Breathnach, to draw up a code of good practice for distributing the money.
Student representatives on the group urged that at least £50 should be devoted to student unions, clubs and activities. But university and college representatives strongly resisted this as a restriction on their traditional financial autonomy.
However, the group did agree that students should have "adequate" representation on college committees deciding on how the £250 should be allocated, and at least 50 per cent representation on committees deciding on the allocation of the amount for student activities.