As student costs soar in 2025, Daire Lydon asks how tariffs, taxes and tuition are combining to squeeze UCD wallets.

By Daire Lydon | Sep 10 2025

Students in Ireland are paying more than ever to get through College. Rent is at a record high, groceries are noticeably more expensive, and the costs of travel by bus and train and socialising are steadily rising. While inflation plays a role, other forces are also at work: global economic policies such as tariffs and VAT changes, along with supply chain disruptions, are driving up everyday expenses. International trade decisions and domestic tax reforms may seem remote from our daily lives, but they actually influence the price of a weekly shop, a pint, or a room in UCD’s Belfield campus. In 2025, understanding how global and national decisions affect student budgets is important to make sense of financial pressure on students on campus. 

Brewed Awakenings 

One of the most obvious examples is the cost of food and everyday purchases. Tariffs and supply chain issues have pushed up the price of groceries and eating out, with the Dublin Gazette reporting that student grocery bills alone are up by 12 per cent in 2025. A quick coffee or sandwich now takes a noticeably bigger bite out of a student's weekly spend. 

One click forward, two steps back 

Technology, once considered a luxury, is now a student essential. Every UCD student depends on a laptop or tablet to access platforms like Brightspace and SisWeb, and the price of electronics has surged. Tariffs on imported components and global chip shortages mean a new laptop can cost €100–€200 more than it did only a few years ago, adding a hidden but unavoidable tax to modern College life. 

Paying Through the Roof

Accommodation is another huge pressure point. Dublin remains the most expensive place in the country to study, with the average student now spending €20,077 a year according to the Dublin Gazette. On campus, accommodation in the UCD Village costs up to €11,888 annually, making it the most expensive university accommodation in Ireland according to the Irish Times. For those unable to secure a campus place, the situation is even more challenging. Zurich’s 2024 Cost of Education report shows that private rents for students have risen nearly 92 per cent since 2019. For many, rent alone swallows most of their budget, leaving very little remaining for food, transport or a social life. 

Fare Enough? 

Transport and energy bills add further strain. Zurich estimates that the average annual transport cost for students is now between €500 and €550, while The Sun newspaper reported that one major energy provider raised electricity prices by 7 per cent in 2025, 

immediately adding €126 a year to household bills. For students living in shared flats or commuting long distances, heating and travel are no longer incidental costs, but major budgeting considerations. 

Taxing Times 

Tuition fees and taxes are also shifting in a manner that affects students directly. The Irish government offered a one-off €1,000 reduction in the annual fee contribution last year, bringing it down from €3,000 to €2,000. It appears this relief may now be set to end, depending on the upcoming budget, meaning students may have to try to find the extra €1,000 towards their fees once more. 

Everyday social life has also become more expensive since the hospitality VAT rate was restored to 13.5 per cent in 2023, up from the 9 per cent rate post pandemic. Meals out, drinks, or even society-organised events have all become pricier. 

Tariffs, taxes, and tuition are combining to make student life more expensive in 2025. For UCD students, that means higher rent, pricier food and transport, and the return of higher fees. Every euro now stretches less, not just because of inflation, but because of decisions made in political and financial centres far beyond campus. What might appear to be abstract policies in relation to trade, taxation, or energy emanating from Brussels or Washington are felt every day in UCD lecture halls, libraries, and student accommodation. 

The heartache does not end with graduation from College. Students leaving College are emerging into a capital city experiencing record rents, rising prices, and a chronic housing shortage. The same economic pressures that shaped their budgets in UCD follow students into working life, so that the effect of global economics and political decisions is never far away.