Colleges are using the CAO system as a marketing tool to fuel the points race, according to the President of Maynooth University.
Professor Philip Nolan says changes to reduce the massive number of college courses are happening too slowly.
He says the large number of options means there's more prestige around higher points courses, which puts more pressure on students to get high marks.
There are more than 1,400 CAO courses available to students, who'll get their leaving cert results on Wednesday next.
