Universities push for higher fees

surfsister

there must be a point at which people stop taking degrees if fees go up to £7k which is being rumoured that would mean kids owing £21k before any rent/food/books etc so leaving uni with £40 to £50k debts. Surely they will never get a mortgage or pay off the loans!! I think it is a joke especially as Scottish students pay much less. With the credit crunch, debts of up to £50k will be a real millstone for most people.

Oldernotwiser

surfsister wrote: »

there must be a point at which people stop taking degrees if fees go up to £7k which is being rumoured that would mean kids owing £21k before any rent/food/books etc so leaving uni with £40 to £50k debts. Surely they will never get a mortgage or pay off the loans!! I think it is a joke especially as Scottish students pay much less. With the credit crunch, debts of up to £50k will be a real millstone for most people.

Student Loans don't affect people's ability to get a mortgage or any other credit and many people never pay off their loans now anyway. As I've said before, it's much better to look at loan repayments as a graduate tax rather than a loan; if you earn enough it gets paid, if you don't, it doesn't!

The_One_Who

surfsister wrote: »

there must be a point at which people stop taking degrees if fees go up to £7k which is being rumoured that would mean kids owing £21k before any rent/food/books etc so leaving uni with £40 to £50k debts. Surely they will never get a mortgage or pay off the loans!! I think it is a joke especially as Scottish students pay much less. With the credit crunch, debts of up to £50k will be a real millstone for most people.

I'm Scottish, but I would gladly pay for my university education if I had to. The Scottish government has decided that it will spend so much on higher education, but this means that some other public services are getting their funding reduced.

tinotinotino

I sincerely hope this doesn't happen. Uni is extremely expensive as it is and they should really look at the teaching quality and hours before reviewing their fees.

Oldernotwiser

tinotinotino wrote: »

I sincerely hope this doesn't happen. Uni is extremely expensive as it is and they should really look at the teaching quality and hours before reviewing their fees.

The teaching and contact time is a very small part of what is covered by your fees; if you look at it in this narrow way it'll always seem expensive.

The_One_Who

I wish I was born a generation or two earlier, when university was for independent learning, not teaching and contact hours. I can e-mail my lecturers and the vast majority will e-mail me back within ten minutes to answer any questions I have or to set up a meeting for further discussion. Perhaps I'm just really lucky.

dizzie

I'd really like a break down of what tuition fees do subsidise. Given that these are actually referred to as "tuition" fees, I think it is reasonable that those who get as little as six hours per week of "tuition" should feel a little agrieved that those who get twenty plus hours of tuition time should pay the same rate.

Someone earlier quoted that the cost of university is nearer to £11k per student - I wonder if this is the cost of fulfilling a University's education role or whether this is the cost of running a University per se. I ask because Universities also fulfil a research role. Since research benefits the country as a whole - not just the students who attend that establishment, I would hope that whatever happens to fees, students would not be expected to subsidise the research portion of a University's required income.

I have two boys and I have to admit that I am concerned about the future. In the recent past, the Government have talked about making personal pension contributions compulsory, and combined with higher student loan repayments, the costs of housing these days...and the tax rises which seem inevitable after the next election to prevent the country going bust...I think future graduates are going to be in for a tough time.

surfsister

yes we get 13 hours tuition at uni every week so i think this is good value but at much over £3k i wouldn't bother but go for on the job trainng. £7k may be good value for oxbridge but for 6hrs tuitio at burnley uni not worth it. OU will clean up then I'm sure as it is great value and takes tesco coupons in payment. I can'rt se any unis doing that!!
sory burnley no offence but just saw it beng built the other day!!

Oldernotwiser

dizzie wrote: »

I have two boys and I have to admit that I am concerned about the future. In the recent past, the Government have talked about making personal pension contributions compulsory, and combined with higher student loan repayments, the costs of housing these days...and the tax rises which seem inevitable after the next election to prevent the country going bust...I think future graduates are going to be in for a tough time.

I don't think that there's been any suggestion of higher loan repayments; higher loans maybe but not higher repayments.

Cardelia

dizzie wrote: »

I'd really like a break down of what tuition fees do subsidise. Given that these are actually referred to as "tuition" fees, I think it is reasonable that those who get as little as six hours per week of "tuition" should feel a little agrieved that those who get twenty plus hours of tuition time should pay the same rate.

University is not an extension of A-levels. At university you are expected to carry out your own study, not just attend lectures to be spoon-fed the course material. If a student is incapable of independent study, then perhaps they should not be at university in the first place.

The number of contact hours for each course varies, often according to how much practical work is required. Medicine can easily have 35+ hours of contact time a week whereas some courses (e.g. English) can have as little as one or two hours a week. Should medical students really be charged more for their study than English students, given the relative importance of doctors in society when compared to English graduates?

Someone earlier quoted that the cost of university is nearer to £11k per student - I wonder if this is the cost of fulfilling a University's education role or whether this is the cost of running a University per se. I ask because Universities also fulfil a research role. Since research benefits the country as a whole - not just the students who attend that establishment, I would hope that whatever happens to fees, students would not be expected to subsidise the research portion of a University's required income.

I have two boys and I have to admit that I am concerned about the future. In the recent past, the Government have talked about making personal pension contributions compulsory, and combined with higher student loan repayments, the costs of housing these days...and the tax rises which seem inevitable after the next election to prevent the country going bust...I think future graduates are going to be in for a tough time.

If you look at the income for your average university, you'll find the majority comes from research and the income from teaching is much smaller. Even if universities were allowed to charge £10,000 a year per student, you'll probably find that research grants still formed the majority of income for the average university. To get an idea of how much a degree actually costs, take a look at the fees charged to international (non-EU) students. You'll often find it's in the tens of thousands of pounds per year, as opposed to the £3000 it costs for EU students.