The number of degree courses requiring 500 points or more has jumped by more than 25 percent in this years CAO.
Round one offers for a record 52 thousand places are now available online.
Prospective students now have a week to accept the places offered this morning and join the some 210-thousand people already in higher education.
Business studies, engineering and law are among the biggest movers while points for science were up at all universities with the exception of UCD and Trinity, where they dipped slightly.
The growth areas mirror sectors of the economy that are recovering with students adjusting their first preferences based on the chancing job market.
President of the Union of Students in Ireland Kevin Donoghue has this advice for anyone who didn't get their first choice course.
