Student Contribution

If you are eligible under the Higher Education Free Fees scheme you will have to pay the Student Contribution; the 'free fees' scheme will pay the other element of the published programme fee.

• The Student Contribution for undergraduate students who qualify for ‘free fees’ is €2,000 in 2023/24
• All students who benefit from ‘free fees’ must pay this charge
• Charging for Undergraduate programmes is based on modules taken. Students normally take 60 credits at each stage/year. If you take fewer credits than the standard (‘standard’ being 60 credits) for your stage you pay less. If you take more credits than the standard (greater than 60 credits) for your stage you pay more.  See examples here.

All students are also liable for the Student Centre Levy. This levy is  €254 in 2023/24.
See below for more about how the levy is used to fund student supports and facilities. 

The combined payment of Student Contribution Charge and Student Centre Levy for 2023/24 is €3,254.

If you are not eligible for 'free fees' you will have to pay the full fee rate. You will find a full listing of Undergraduate and Graduate fees at the following links:

EU Fees
Fee Payment Dates

The Department of Education and Skills sets and approves the composite fee in July each year. The Programme Fee published on our website is the composite fee plus the Student Contribution and the Student Levy.

The Student Contribution will be paid in respect of students who get approval under a third level grant scheme. For continuing students who already have a grant, this will be through their County Council or VEC. For students commencing in September 2022, this will be through the higher education grants agency SUSI. Please refer to the following link for further information (opens in a new window)http://www.studentfinance.ie/

• The Student Contribution is in principle allowable for tax relief
• For 2022/23 the first €2,000 in qualifying fees per claim will be ineligible for tax relief for students in full-time education. For students in part-time education, the first €1,000 in qualifying fees will be ineligible
• Families with two or more children who are paying the Student Contribution charge will qualify for tax relief in respect of payments being made for second and subsequent children
• The upper threshold for tax relief on qualifying fees per programme is €7,000
• For further details on the tax relief please refer to the (opens in a new window)Revenue Commissioners
• Families must deal directly with the Revenue Commissioners on claiming tax relief, not with the University

The Student Centre Levy was first introduced in 1996 after a successful student body vote. Students voted again in 2006 and 2019 to continue with the Levy.

Embedded within the standard academic fee, the Student Centre Levy fee is a funding system that has been used over the past 25 years at UCD for non-academic student-focused development, activity and endeavour.

The Student Levy fee provides you, as a student of UCD, the opportunity, support, and facilities required to strive at life outside of the lecture theatre.

The Levy directly funds the operations and loans attached to the running of the UCD Student Centre and its associated facilities which helps support the provision of facilities for student sports clubs and societies.

As an enrolled student of UCD, the Levy also grants you access to two gyms and over 100 fitness classes per week at UCD Sport & Fitness.