Teagasc spent €6,479 educating each agricultural student in the 2013/14 academic year, down from an average spend of €12,000 in 2009.
Quoting Teagasc figures in the Dail recently, the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said the overall average net cost to the state of full-time education provision per college based student (inclusive of further and higher education) for the 2013/14 academic year was €6,479.
The Minister also said the average net cost per full-time student for the three private colleges was €5,067 for the same period. Although Minister Coveney said Teagasc advise that the costs are not fully comparable in that the Teagasc owned colleges have significant involvement in Teagasc research and knowledge transfer activities.