Dundalk IT full-time student numbers from ROI fall by over 500 since 2016/2017

Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) has seen a fall of over 500 full-time undergraduate students from counties in the Republic of Ireland, enrolled at the third level institute since the 2016/2017 academic year.
There has also however, been a significant increase in the number of part-time undergraduate students enrolled at the Institute during those years.

According to data released by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), 3,139 full-time undergraduate students from the Republic of Ireland were enrolled at DkIT in the academic year 2021/2022. This is down from 3,654 enrolled in the 2016/2017 academic year, a fall of 515 students and represents a fall of 14.1%.

The number fell from 3,654 in 2016/2017, to 3,485 in 2017/2018, to 3,421 in 2018/2019 and down to 3,253 in 2019/2020. The number rose in 2020/2021 to 3,317 but fell again in 2021/2022 to 3,139.

According to the data released by the HEA, 3,771 full-time undergraduate students were enrolled at DkIT in the academic year 2021/2022. This is 463 down from the 4,234 enrolled in 2016/2017, representing a fall of 10.9%. It is also a decrease of 142 on the 2020/2021 academic year, representing a fall of 3.6%.

The HEA data shows that the only other third level institute that has seen a decrease in full-time undergraduate students since the 2016/2017 academic year was Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, which has seen a fall of 66 students, representing a decrease of 3.3%. Each of the other third level institutes for which the HEA data available, has increased its full-time undergraduate numbers since 2016/2017.

DkIT is one of eight third level institutes that saw a fall in full-time undergraduate students during the last academic year (2021/2022), but only South East Technological University, with a fall of 5.6% of full-time undergraduate students enrolled, saw a larger percentage decrease.

Ten other third level institutes saw an increase in full time undergraduate students, the highest increase seen at University College Dublin, where the number of full time undergraduate students grew by 8.1%.

Looking at the number of students at DkIT for the 2021/2022 academic year, the number of full-time undergraduates from counties in the Republic of Ireland fell by 178, or 5.4%. The number from Non-EU countries fell just slightly last year, with just six fewer than the 2020/2021 academic year. It is down 103 however on the number enrolled in the 2016/2017 academic year however, representing a fall of 24%, and 139 or 29.9% on the 2017/2018 academic year.

With regards full time undergraduate students from Northern Ireland enrolled at DkIT in 2021/2022 the number fell slightly, from 249 to 231. It should be noted however, that the number of full time undergraduate students from Northern Ireland has grown in recent years, with over 215 in each of the last three years, compared to 137 in 2018/2019 and 85 in 2017/2018.

Commenting on the change in student numbers between 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, and in replying to the Dundalk Democrat when it asked if there was a fear that the fall in numbers would have an impact on government funding, and if the fall in the number of non-EU undergraduate full time students would have an impact on revenue, a spokesperson for DkIT said the following:

“DkIT’s predominate funding stream for both undergraduate and postgraduate EU students is that of the Recurrent Grant Funding Model. This model is based on student headcount, weighted for the discipline of study, amongst other factors. Student numbers are under continuous review and the Institute is happy to announce a 17% increase in Round 1 offers for 2022/23 compared to that for 2021/22. Both Non-EU and non-Irish student recruitment has rebounded well post Covid-19 with increases in registrations across a variety of courses.”

In terms of part-time undergraduate students, DkIT has seen an increase in numbers over the past number of years. 741 part-time undergraduate students were enrolled at DkIT in 2021/2022, down slightly on the 755 enrolled in 2020/2021, but up from 597 in 2019/2020 and from the 514 enrolled in the 2016/2017 academic year. The increase of 227 in 2021/2022 on the 514 enrolled in 2016/2017, represents an increase of 44.2%.