Public Education & Civic Responsibility in a Constrained Financial Environment. The Argument Against Income Contingent Loans in Ireland for Higher Education Financing

Abstract

The ICL model as outlined in current policy discussions cannot work in Ireland due to the high probability of default. The Irish system is neither small enough or large enough to make an ICL work. As it stands in any ICL scenario a minimum of 10 years of losses would have to be absorbed by the ICL system or by HEIs, preventing any capital expenditure during that decade. The cost benefit analysis excluding set-up costs, legal enforcement and judicial review still does not support the implementation of the ICL model proposed by Cassells.