Universities have defended their records on college dropouts after a new report identified alarming rates in some institutions, particularly in science and computing.
The university with the highest drop-out rate, according to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) report, was NUI Maynooth, where almost 28 per cent of students failed to complete courses.
NUI Maynooth admitted yesterday that the figures were disappointing but said that, since the report was compiled, it had "fundamentally transformed the education environment" at the college.
In a statement the college said it had appointed its former registrar, Prof Peter Carr, as academic counsellor to deal with poor completion rates. It said this was the first such appointment in any Irish university. Since 1992 over £40 million had been invested in a programme to provide new teaching, research and student facilities.
It also said two new science buildings had been provided, which would help students on science courses to avail of state-of-the-art facilities. The university had a poor record on science, with over 40 per cent of students failing to complete the course.
The university also pointed out that 25 per cent of its student body was drawn from lower socio-economic groups, and many of these dropped out. "NUI Maynooth has consistently been to the forefront in the university sector in broadening the reach of education and promoting greater access for all sections of the community," it said.
Students were also being offered "more tailored" choices, and this would also improve retention rates. The HEA's report said that in many universities students dropped out because they selected the wrong course.
The University of Limerick (UL) also defended its record. According to the HEA report more than 20 per cent of its students failed to complete their courses. The university said this finding "distorted" the true picture.
Many of the students recorded as dropping out had remained within the University of Limerick by transferring to another course. "The practical course-transfer arrangements in place at UL aim to ensure that emerging graduates possess the most appropriate skills suited to their aptitudes and the needs of the marketplace," said Prof Kevin Ryan, vice-president at UL.
"In a number of cases UL courses have a common syllabus for the first year or two, and students can switch without any academic penalty, for example, from mechanical to aeronautical engineering. It is therefore misleading to count such students as non-completers," he said.
He added that UL had introduced several initiatives to deal with the drop-out problem, including commissioning research into reasons for failure, especially in maths and computing.