MSE News: Open University pulls plug on Tesco-funded degrees

Stryder

The OU have promised these courses would be made open in their statement. In OU we trust :-s

Fiver29

Why do people always expect something for nothing? The Tesco vouchers were a great boon, but they were a bonus not a guarantee.

Presumably University standard students go into these things with their eyes open and don't expect a special offer to last forever, it's just not feasible.

The_One_Who

I don't think it's about expecting something for nothing. It's about using something to start the degree but then being unable to finish it. Imagine if this year there were to be no student loans and no grants, I doubt many people would be able to go.

Oldernotwiser

The_One_Who wrote: »

I don't think it's about expecting something for nothing. It's about using something to start the degree but then being unable to finish it. Imagine if this year there were to be no student loans and no grants, I doubt many people would be able to go.

That's not really the same situation, though. Loans and grants are the bona fide way of funding HE, Clubcard points should only have been looked at as a temporary bonus.

To be honest, I'm sure that the scheme was only ever intended to give people a bit of a discount; I'm sure nobody ever dreamed that hundreds(?) of people would be paying 400-600 per year with vouchers, much less funding their whole degree with them! In fact,you could make a good case that MSE was indirectly responsible for the withdrawal of the scheme by spreading the idea beyond its original scope.

maggiecon

Whacks I have 15k of debt from going to a bricks and mortar university not the OU
I accumulated that from having to travel everyday 100 miles round trip and still having to raise two kids and pay a mortgage.

What I am trying to say is that people shouldnt get their knickers in a twist about this, the OU is still by far a much cheaper option than a 'conventional university' and you only really have to pay for it if you are earning a lot of money in which case £630 a module shouldnt be too hard to pay back.

For the record I choose to study elsewhere becasue the OU do not offer degrees in construction related subjects.#

Stryder you are right i shouldnt have to get this far into debt especially when my friends who graduated several years before benefitted from the grant system and only had a quarter of the debt I have. But will a tory government change the grant system I dont think so.

Stryder

Maggiecon

1) Tuition fees, end of grants, etc are stupid. I have about £5k left of debts from Uni in SLs and this is because I got NO help from the government. My syblings generation got all tuition fees, grants and support they needed. And frankly, I suspect many of the negative comments made on this board are made by people who have not dealt with this situation. These debts would be fine if a degree guaranteed work, and a decent pay, which frankly it doesn't (years ago it virtually did).

2) I think its a little unfair to discuss your 15k debt, if you are travelling 100 miles a day and childcare. I am not saying this is valid, but the OU was created for people in your position and is ideally suited to your situation. You chose a bricks and mortar University for a reason (for the course/career) , and therefore you have not chosen the cheapest option. However, many people on the OU are forced to compromise on their courses as they can not afford to go to the university of there choice. I have universities close by I would prefer to go to but only the OU is affordable. I have had to compromise in the way I prefer to study and the exact subjects.

3) If you wish to retrain, it is not free (like me, degree already). If you need to retake courses it is often not free. If you have a large family you can still be earning a lot and still have no spare money. There can be a lot of reasons why you can not pay. In fact, those who use tesco vouchers when they could, in theory, get tuition funded are paying extra to the course they need not.

I can understand your feelings for the situation where people who are relatively rich and using the vouchers to pay for courses you can afford. I can understand the OU needing greater % return from their students. No one is complaining too much about these issues. People are annoyed a) how the vouchers were advertised (i.e. not being sold as an "intro" to the courses and people had hoped to complete degrees on them). b) How they were finished, virtually with no warning. Not everyone will be able to use the May vouchers if they are not sent earlier enough. for a scheme supporting courses (degrees) that can last 6 or 8 years, giving 4 months notice with unfair, and they should have been arranged to give people time to make other arrangements, c) The fact it was a blanket change that affected everyone no matter what, without considering a phasing out. d) and maybe what really annoyed people, the fact the OU did not inform its students and let people find out via sites like this.

Oldernotwiser

Stryder wrote: »

1) Tuition fees, end of grants, etc are stupid. I have about £5k left of debts from Uni in SLs and this is because I got NO help from the government. My syblings generation got all tuition fees, grants and support they needed. And frankly, I suspect many of the negative comments made on this board are made by people who have not dealt with this situation. These debts would be fine if a degree guaranteed work, and a decent pay, which frankly it doesn't (years ago it virtually did).

Of course you got help from the government,the fees you paid were only a small proportion of the actual costs.

Also,in the days when grants were available,a much smaller number of people went to university and,perhaps,you might not have been one of them. Grants were also heavily means tested.

Yes,I do have student loans.

maggiecon

Stryder, The OU was not created for people in my position it was created for people who wanted to do a degree without having to take the traditional route ie Alevels or GNVQs etc. or who wanted to work full time and study.

I in fact did choose the cheaper option. I have a degree from the OU in computing however, after three years of trying to find employment I had to go back to university to retrain.

I am not saying it is free but you only have to pay full amount if you are earning over £30k and that is not taking into account any siblings.

a module is £630 split over 9 months £70 per month not exactly break the bank stuff.

Fiver29

Stryder wrote: »

d) and maybe what really annoyed people, the fact the OU did not inform its students and let people find out via sites like this.

The OU did inform people, it was emailed to every OU student's home page. I got mine days before it hit here or Facebook. If people don't check their emails it's hardly the OUs fault.

KGM_2

One less reason to shop at Tescos. Maybe not a bad thing.
Sainsburys to the rescue?!