Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology is the top performer in the Institute of Technology sector when it comes to providing equal access to education over the past two academic years, new data from the Higher Education Authority shows.
Equal access data relating to two academic years, 2007/8 and 2008/9, focuses on the social, economic and cultural background of students. It found that GMIT had the largest number of registered first year mature students two years in a row, with 338 mature students registered in the 2008/9 academic year and 311 the previous year, a total of 649 in two years.
In addition to its intake of mature first year students during these two academic years, GMIT has 228 students classified under the HEA Equal Access Scheme in 2008/9 and 274 students classified under this scheme in 2007/8.
GMIT registrar Mr Bernard O’Hara said: “The figures confirm GMIT’s commitment to facilitating access to students from under represented categories in higher education and promoting equality of opportunity as much as possible.”
The equal access data was compiled by the HEA. In 2008 almost 80 per cent of college entrants to 27 institutions responded to a questionnaire at registration, resulting in data on student backgrounds for two consecutive years 2007/8 and 2008/9.
