I can't believe how expensive Uni is

Indie_Kid

bristol_pilot wrote: »

You can thank Nu Labour for increasing the supply of debt-laden graduates that nobody needs. The taxpayer could have afforded to fund tuition and perhaps a modest student grant if numbers had been kept reasonable.

But why should the taxpayer spend money allowing students to get drunk? It's only fair they pay it back.

(And yes, I am a full-time HE student and don't mind the debt as such)

greenpixie_2

sh1305 wrote: »

But why should the taxpayer spend money allowing students to get drunk? It's only fair they pay it back.

(And yes, I am a full-time HE student and don't mind the debt as such)

Ha if i only lived off my student loan i wouldn't be able to afford to get drunk, thats one of the reasons i work in the holidays so i can go out occassionally with my mates.

I never know how everyone can afford to get drunk ALL the time. Some of my housemates are at the pub 5 out of 7 nights. Even if i got the full loan i wouldn't be able to afford that. I guess they must have a large overdraft or wealthy parents!

Blacksheep1979

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

But don't forget it was the Tories under margaret thatcher who did away with student grants.

I think you'll find that it was labour within their first 6 months removed the maintenance grant

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Where does FE funding come into things -we're discussing degree level education!

Ok - FE/HE is semantics really in the scope of the point I was trying to raise.

sh1305 wrote: »

But why should the taxpayer spend money allowing students to get drunk? It's only fair they pay it back.

(And yes, I am a full-time HE student and don't mind the debt as such)

Yes I agree the taxpayer shouldn't pay but if we didn't sponsor everyone (or whatever the silly percentage labour wants to go into FE/HE) and instead picked the cream (top 5-10% or so) like we did 30 years ago then they could be sponsored and the extra they earn in salary more than pays back over a lifetime (financially and in other terms for the country) what they cost for 3-4 years extra education.

I'd also much rather see some of my tax money spent on someone with potential trying to better themselves than some chav that has bred.

parley

sh1305 wrote: »

But why should the taxpayer spend money allowing students to get drunk? It's only fair they pay it back.

(And yes, I am a full-time HE student and don't mind the debt as such)

Not all students waste money on booze. Alot of us are busy studying and working, so don't fit into that stereotypical view as you think of students. Ok you don't seem to mind the debt but it's very hard going for most students. It is very hard to make ends meet when you have to survive on these loans especially if you don't have support from family members.

You can argue this with why should tax payers pay for people in prison gaining a degree. Most of us students pay tax when working part-time, some work harder than being in full time work and pay taxes but inmates don't. So should we all go to prison to get a degree and not be in debt.

Comments like yours are not very encouraging.

Please can we give OP some support and give some helpful advice instead of some of the comments posted, which are not very helpful.

bodmil

I seem to recall the prospect of 2 year bachelors talked about somewhere. With a far more rigorous schedule and 1-2 weeks summer holiday you would end up with a lot less debt. I wonder how many students would be willing to do that though. I probably only worked about 20% of the time at uni anyway so it's certainly do-able for some courses.

Angelic

Unless you have savings , well paid part time work , a wealthy partner or family why did you buy a brand new car?
I think education is expensive compared to even 10 years ago but some people lack common sense if they spend money like it's water.

Indie_Kid

bodmil wrote: »

I seem to recall the prospect of 2 year bachelors talked about somewhere. With a far more rigorous schedule and 1-2 weeks summer holiday you would end up with a lot less debt. I wonder how many students would be willing to do that though. I probably only worked about 20% of the time at uni anyway so it's certainly do-able for some courses.

I've heard about this. Whilst finishing with less debt would be nice; I don't fancy studying pretty much all summer when all my friends are out having fun.

Oldernotwiser

sh1305 wrote: »

I've heard about this. Whilst finishing with less debt would be nice; I don't fancy studying pretty much all summer when all my friends are out having fun.

Presumably your friends would be in the same situation though?

MrsManda

bodmil wrote: »

I seem to recall the prospect of 2 year bachelors talked about somewhere. With a far more rigorous schedule and 1-2 weeks summer holiday you would end up with a lot less debt. I wonder how many students would be willing to do that though. I probably only worked about 20% of the time at uni anyway so it's certainly do-able for some courses.

This has been spoken about with regards to my course in the past and in fact my department would like to INCREASE the number of years taken to do my degree from 3 to 4 and turn it into a UG masters. Their reasoning is that despite the fact we work almost 30 hours week with our labs, not including the write-ups, essays and self-study, we don't cover the subject very indepth and a four year course would mean we'd get the chance to do more practical work whilst also learning the theory in a much more intense way. The term 'holidays' is laughable with my course as Christmas is spent doing essays, and trying to catch up on self-study and occassionally taking a break so we don't have a nervous breakdown. Easter is spent revising - I've been doing 6 hour days. Admittedly we get a long summer but because we don't get enough lab experience we are expected to arrange a laboratory placement so that when we graduate we have the experience as well as the knowledge. I know this isn't the same for all courses by a long way but for us I'm not sure we'd cope without vastly reducing the worth of the degree. That's why I don't mind the debt and will consider it a worthwhile tax.

devildog

I think they should cut down the length of time that the courses last. DD is in her first year and of that I estimate that for 5 months of that she will be at home(month xmas, month easter and 3 months in the summer) She is going to have a heck of a lot of loans(4 year course) for what amounts to 7 months tuition each year and that is not even taking into consideration how often she needs to attend lectures each week!! Surely they could condense the courses!!
I also believe that although in theory everyone is entitled to a uni education the more people that do this the less value a degree holds. I may be speaking out of line year but when I hear of people getting D/E grades at A level and going off to uni (or are some of them glorifed colleges) I wonder what the point is!

The whole system needs to be looked at again