In the age of neoliberalism, austerity and government’s withdrawal from funding public services like higher education across Ireland and Europe have led universities to turn towards the private sector in order to survive through soliciting investments from private corporations. The mission of higher education in servicing the public has been perverted by privatisation and the chase for profits, higher rankings, and international prestige. Prior to neoliberal reforms in higher education, it was once viewed as a public service available across divisions of class, race, and religion. Its redefinition as a private good has altered the relationship between the student and the university to one between consumers and producers. Fees and monetary barriers to entry have limited access to education to those with the wealth to purchase it.
This transformation of the university as a producer has also altered the functioning of universities into corporate entities. Henry Steck writes on the “corporate university” and outlines how educational institutions adopt corporate management models: the institutionalisation of marketplace mechanisms; the adoption of corporate practices such as mission statements, hierarchies, and productivity measures; having individual departments be financially self-sufficient; the implementation of managerial practices; the development of secondary revenue streams from merchandising, conferences, investments, sports, rentals, etc.; an orientation towards customer service. Trinity’s operations exemplify these trends through its constant increase in fees, global marketing, private investments, and focus on entrepreneurship.
The consequences of privatisation are most evident in rising tuition costs. As the government offloads the responsibilities of funding to institutions themselves, students are experiencing higher tuition costs and associated costs like rents and academic material. Access to education is being stratified further by Minister James Lawless’ plan to cut the EUR 1000 subsidy implemented for the past three years. John Walsh believes this to be the latest in the “crisis” of higher education. Additionally, Trinity’s degrees are marketed as a luxurious commodity to international students who pay the highest fees, through international recruitment divisions in the admissions office and its ranking as the 16th most international university. International marketing alongside an increase in tuition fees furthers accumulated knowledge capital in the hands of the privileged.
Professor John O’Hara of Trinity believes that Trinity treats its international students as “cash cows” which comes at the cost of academic standards. “The finances of some universities are now so dependent on this source of funding”, he writes in the Financial Times, “that it has become imperative that a degree is assured, regardless of the quality and performance of the foreign students involved”. The profit motive appears to be distorting educational quality.
According to the financial reports of the university from 2023/2024, Trinity generated €50.2 million in surplus or profits. Tuition fees made up the highest portion of its revenue. Despite the appearance of prestige—78th in the world and the 16th most international university—students face a much harsher reality. Students in Dublin face some of the highest rental costs while Trinity’s profits are channelled into private partnerships and ventures. The appearance of success in finances is often at the cost of student wellbeing and academic support.
In a corporatised university, Julien Mercille and Enda Murphy of University College Dublin (UCD) argue that the aims of the university are altered in alignment with the neoliberal ideology. “Reform thus seeks to align universities with the goals and priorities of Ireland Inc. Academia is not considered to be an institution whose primary mission is to conduct research to uncover scientific truths, or to challenge power and injustice; rather, its task is to assist political and economic elites in their pursuit of power and protect their privileged socio-economic position.”
The Irish government itself has endorsed this direction. The National Strategy for Higher Education 2030 (2011) argues that “the only realistic option to support growth in participation is to require students or graduates to directly share in the cost of their education, reflecting the considerable private returns that they can expect to enjoy. A direct student contribution, based on a combination of upfront fees and an income-contingent loan scheme, is recommended as an essential element of future funding arrangements for the system”. Many of the recommendations of the Cassels Report in 2016 expect private investment to fill the void of funding gaps between the government and tuition fees.
Trinity’s own relationship with corporations reveals the contradictions of “corporate social responsibility” as Trinity’s business school joined the CSR Change Maker Alliance in 2019. Recently, Trinity divested from Israeli industries after severe pressure from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) group only because it resulted in a loss of revenue. In 2016, it promised to cut ties with fossil fuel industries yet accepted funds from Cement Roadstone Holdings in 2020. This commitment was further deserted in 2021 with Ryanair’s donation to Trinity’s Ryanair Sustainable Development Aviation Centre. These partnerships illustrate how corporate priorities almost always trump student and social demands. The mission of higher education is diluted by the entrance of private industry in influencing the curriculum.
Corporatisation, overall, has pushed Trinity to chase higher rankings, surplus profits, and international prestige while failing its own students. Higher tuition fees, inaccessible rents, and limited funding to student services undermine students’ quality of life and education. Their needs are subordinated in favour of optics and appealing to investors. Neoliberalism has redefined not only Trinity but higher education institutions across Ireland and Europe who follow a unified European educational policy which sought to “make students more employable and higher education more in line with business needs. The harmonisation of educational systems across the continent makes it easier to drive the neoliberal agenda forward”. As Trinity’s role is redefined, the priorities of existing students are secondary to the corporate bottom line.
The line in this original “In 2024, AIB invested €10 million, establishing an AIB Trinity Climate Hub despite being a major shareholder in companies that were the largest fossil fuel polluters in the world.” was removed for being a misleading assertion. AIB has no exposure to the world’s top 20 emitters and does not have material exposure to high emitting sectors or non-Paris Agreement-aligned counterparts. AIB has a publicly disclosed exclusions policy list that prohibits the provision of new money to businesses, or any of their subsidiaries, involved in a wide range of fossil fuel activities.
In a statement, AIB said “We have a clear strategic focus on financing renewable energy , warmer homes and greener businesses via our support for Green and Transition lending target. We support all of our customers through the energy transition with a focus on both greening the Irish grid and supporting energy efficiency. AIB started our sustainability journey back in 2016. We were the first bank in Ireland to make a commitment to decarbonise our own business by 2030, and were the first bank in the world to get internationally recognised SBTi approval for energy and finance, We are proud to be the first bank in the world to have a maintenance target validated by the SBTi for our electricity generation portfolio, reflecting early strategic decisions to focus on renewable energy.”
