niece - apply one year early?

angelofmel

lkmc01 wrote: »

Hi

As it 2012 when we niece will go to uni (she is in 1st year college now) should I advide her to apply for uni for 2011 and see if she gets offered anything or gets a place through clearing. she is a very smart lass. it is worth her trying to get a place a year early due to the 9000 tutition fees starting in 2012?

I'm doing my msc at the moment and the fee rise won't apply to me. If I was her I'd put an application in for 2011 instead of 2012 and see if anything came of it

What do you think??

i wouldnt recomend it. in the very exceptional circumstance that i know of that a uni let in a 17 year old student who hadnt completed thier a level/a level equivelant course they were forced to complete their first year as a foundation course, and therefore didnt even enter the undergrad course untill the year they would've had they continued college, but still racked up the debts of tuition fee and loans of a uni student.

i know that in the long run, 4 years of lower fees will still amount to cheaper than 3 years of the new maximum fee, it seems to me an unnessecery additional year when we currently dont actually know exactly what the unis will charge, and which unis will charge what, we can only speculate untill they announce thier fees for the 2012/13 academic year.

also your niece would come under the current loan repayment rules meaning the loan she would take for her foundation year would gather interest while she completes the undergrad course and would be paid back when she earns £15k or more. the new loan system i believe keeps your loan interest fee untill you earn the required repayment amount (am i right here) of £21k. i dont have figures but wouldnt in the long run the cost of interest, especially if she doesnt start to pay back immediately amount to more than a new fee loan?

also i wonder would the undergrad course after completion of the foundation year be regarded as a new course and therefore come under the new fees regardless?

setmefree2

melancholly wrote: »

i'm just trying to call it how i (and most other people!) see it - i'm not trying to be negative or nasty, just give the best information i can so that other people can plan. the details aren't even out yet, but most unis will be jumping through any hoop possible to get into the higher fees bracket!

Me too.... I'm just trying to call it as I see it.

It seems to me that people working in higher ed think that Unis will just charge £9k and everything will continue as normal. Competitive markets don't work like that - competition will make prices fall - presumably that's why the coalition put a floor of £6k on their plans to prevent some Unis going even lower.

Not all unis will be planning on charging £9k - I just don't believe that.

setmefree2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

"HEPI's other main conclusion is that £9000 will in due course - perhaps not immediately, but it will not take long - become the going rate for fees."

http://www.hepi.ac.uk/478-1876/HEPI-publishes-response-to-the-government's-proposals-for-higher-education-funding.html

Exactly - Universities will start at £6k and move upwards (possibly) - so my kids entering sept 2012 and 2014 will probably pay £6k (unless they get into one of the top unis, in which case I will expect to pay more)

Oldernotwiser

setmefree2 wrote: »

Exactly - Universities will start at £6k and move upwards (possibly) - so my kids entering sept 2012 and 2014 will probably pay £6k (unless they get into one of the top unis, in which case I will expect to pay more)

I think it depends on the definition of a "top" university. It seems very likely that nearly all of the traditional universities will want to be seen in this way, leaving the old polys trailing in their wake.

For many people, paying £9,000 pa to go to, say, Sussex, will seem very much better value than paying £6,000 pa to go to Lincoln or Bolton.

setmefree2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think it depends on the definition of a "top" university. It seems very likely that nearly all of the traditional universities will want to be seen in this way, leaving the old polys trailing in their wake.

For many people, paying £9,000 pa to go to, say, Sussex, will seem very much better value than paying £6,000 pa to go to Lincoln or Bolton.

Maybe. But if I was chosing between two very similar Unis - say Leeds vs Birmingham. I'd probably pick the cheaper.

Oldernotwiser

setmefree2 wrote: »

Maybe. But if I was chosing between two very similar Unis - say Leeds vs Birmingham. I'd probably pick the cheaper.

But as they're both Russell Group universities, I can't see either of them charging less than £9,000 from the start.

setmefree2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

But as they're both Russell Group universities, I can't see either of them charging less than £9,000 from the start.

You haven't offered me any evidence to back up you POV. In fact, the only evidence you have offered up suggests that Unis will charge £6k.

melancholly

setmefree2 wrote: »

You haven't offered me any evidence to back up you POV. In fact, the only evidence you have offered up suggests that Unis will charge £6k.

http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/russell-group-latest-news/121-2010/4628-russell-group-comment-on-tuition-fee-vote/
because they're already talking about how to be able to charge more than £6k.... we're not making it up!

Oldernotwiser

setmefree2 wrote: »

You haven't offered me any evidence to back up you POV. In fact, the only evidence you have offered up suggests that Unis will charge £6k.

But you yourself have agreed that the "top" universities will charge £9,000!

GeneHunt_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

But you yourself have agreed that the "top" universities will charge £9,000!

ONW evidence please!