Can I claim tax relief on college fees?

The Zurich Cost of Education Survey 2024* reveals the staggering costs for college students living at home and in rented or student accommodation.

When it comes to third level, unsurprisingly accommodation represents a substantial average annual cost. The average spend for student accommodation was €5,034  but the cost of rental accommodation during the academic year isn't cheap either, averaging €10,067. 

Fees are another substantial cost and will vary depending on the institution. All 'free-fees' third level institutions charge a mandatory student contribution – the maximum rate for 2022-2023 is €3,000 per year.

Accommodation and tuition fees aside, 77% of parents provide financial support to their children in third level and over the course of a year, the average spend on parent financial support is €2,331.

Our Cost of Education research clearly shows that college education doesn't come cheap and by the time a teenager reaches third level, parents are really feeling the pressure of funding their children through university or college. But there are ways to save money such as claiming tax on college fees.

You can claim tax relief on fees, including the student contribution fee, but you can’t claim for administration fees. To qualify for relief on fees the course must be from an approved college.

The maximum amount you can claim is €7,000 per course, per person, per academic year. 

Revenue.ie provide useful information on how to claim tax credits for third level tuition fees. You can find out how to calculate the relief here.

Another useful tool is Zurich's Cost of College Calculator. Parents can work out the annual and lifetime costs of sending children to college, and plan budgets and finances around that.

Future savings

Because the cost of education is high and increases over the years, it make sense to plan ahead, budget and save.

With a Regular Savings plan you can gradually build up the funds necessary to support your children's education.

The table below illustrates just how much regular savings can grow with a Zurich LifeSave Savings Plus plan. For example, if you saved the Government child benefit of €140 per month for five years (as of July 2024) from when your child was born, by the time they started school you could have built up savings of €8,784 in time to fund this crucial stage in their education.

Tools to help plan for education costs

At Zurich, we want to help you plan for your children’s future educational needs. We have lots of tools you can use to help plan ahead. For example, our Cost of Secondary School Calculator is a tool that helps you work out how much you need to save to cover the costs of putting children through secondary school and our Cost of College Education Calculator will show you the estimated costs of sending your children to college so you can see how much you might need to save each month to meet these college costs. You can also use our Financial Health Check for more insights into your overall financial wellbeing.

Download the cost of education report

*Source: Zurich Cost of Education Survey 2024