New EU Students Eye UK and Ireland

A report to be released Thursday by the British Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) shows that applications of students from the new EU countries to UK universities have shot up this year by almost 140 percent. Since 10 countries joined the EU on May 1 this year, applicants from these countries fall under the category "EU students" - who pay the same limited tuition fees as their British counterparts. Overseas students generally pay much higher rates. However, the relatively high costs of studying in the UK still seems to scare off many "new" Europeans, as their number of applications remained relatively small - 3,174 out of a total number of 66,275 applications from abroad. In Ireland, a similar rise in university applications from the new EU countries is expected, according to the Irish Independent. This follows a decision by the Irish government this week that students from the newly acceded countries will be eligible for the so-called "Free fees scheme" as of next September. (EUobserver.com)