Student Loan 2015 Discussion

WISHIWASRICH_2

According to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), it costs £7,300 to educate the average student per year.

Also, according to HEFCE data, for example at Durham University, it costs about £4,776 per year to educate a student in, say, modern languages, whereas at Sheffield Hallam University, this figure shoots up to just over £7,440.

Unis that deliver courses cheaper should be allowed to do so. There shouldn't be a blanket fee of £9k. It's mad. How can it cost the same for a northern Uni to deliver a degree as a southern one? Or a less research intensive uni to deliver a degree as one that does a great deal of research?

What's the point in Britain borrowing a load of money it can't afford and burdening a whole generation with a pile of debt? Unis should be encouraged to be more efficient and students shouldn't be forced to pay £9k pa for a degree because of lack of affordable options. If Unis can't deliever degrees at a reasonable price then they should be allowed to wind down. Presumably the buildings belong to the public and can be put to other uses.

imho.

WISHIWASRICH_2

Front page of today's Sunday Times (subscription required)

University Entries in record fall
Universities are facing their biggest fall in apllications for more than 30 years, with new figures showing a decline of 10% in the face of next year's hike in fees.

London Unis report biggest declines

• City -41%
• Goldsmiths -35%
• Brunel -24%
• Manchester -16%
• Exerter -7%
• Surrey -7%

Not all down

• Warwick +10%

• Bath +8%
• LSE +6.6%

Lokolo

WISHIWASRICH wrote: »

Front page of today's Sunday Times (subscription required)

London Unis report biggest declines

• City -41%
• Goldsmiths -35%
• Brunel -24%
• Manchester -16%
• Exerter -7%
• Surrey -7%

Not all down

• Warwick +10%

• Bath +8%
• LSE +6.6%

Just read that in the paper and although I am a little surprised, it wasnt a massive shock. A lot of people last year applied and i suspect a lot more applied earlier to try and secure offers.

Its still very early, oxbridge med and vet applications only had to be in last week. Will be more interesting to see applicant levels at new year.

The_One_Who

WISHIWASRICH wrote: »

According to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), it costs £7,300 to educate the average student per year.

Also, according to HEFCE data, for example at Durham University, it costs about £4,776 per year to educate a student in, say, modern languages, whereas at Sheffield Hallam University, this figure shoots up to just over £7,440.

Those on cheaper courses will be subsidising those on more expensive. We could introduce different fee rates for different courses, but I think sciences would lose out even more than they already do.

Unis that deliver courses cheaper should be allowed to do so. There shouldn't be a blanket fee of £9k. It's mad. How can it cost the same for a northern Uni to deliver a degree as a southern one? Or a less research intensive uni to deliver a degree as one that does a great deal of research?

I think the research aspect is totally separate. Whilst there is some staff crossover, most (all?) universities have research-only staff, and some have teaching-only. A lot of the 'newer' universities devote more time to their teaching of students and less to the act of research, so that involves more time and more cost.

Unis should be encouraged to be more efficient and students shouldn't be forced to pay £9k pa for a degree because of lack of affordable options. If Unis can't deliever degrees at a reasonable price then they should be allowed to wind down. Presumably the buildings belong to the public and can be put to other uses.

imho.

Universities already are trying to be efficient. It leads to a lot of job cuts, department closures, institution restructures and even mergers. Closing down a university is not an easy task. Just think of the highly skilled staff that the current jobs market cannot absorb.

The buildings are privately owned, and a lot of the newer buildings have been purpose-built. It'd cost a lot of money to transform them into something else.

WISHIWASRICH_2

Higher university fees are putting off one in 10 potential students, a survey commissioned by BBC Inside Out suggests.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15392743

A Ucas spokesman indicated demand for Oxbridge and medical courses had held up

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/24/tuition-fees-deterring-students-university?newsfeed=true

About 75% of students in central southern England say the benefits of going to university outweigh the costs, despite tuition fee rises.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15388866

WISHIWASRICH_2

Top universities raising A-level entry requirements

requirements have been inflated in the last few weeks – after the opening date for applications. This contradicts entry grade thresholds already outlined in their prospectuses. It follows the introduction of Government reforms that allow universities to admit unlimited numbers of students with good A-levels – at least two As and a B.
But teachers criticised the move which they said caused chaos and confusion for thousands of sixth-formers.

This has already led to some universities such as Warwick, Nottingham, Surrey and Sheffield confirming that entry grades would rise for a series of courses starting next year.
Some 40 courses at Nottingham and 60 at Sheffield have been subjected to grade increases, it was revealed.
Warwick said that entry grades were rising in four subject areas to “manage demand”, with sociology increasing from BBB in 2011 to AAB in 2012.
Most increases were made before the opening of applications in September.
But Surrey only wrote to prospective students this month saying that demands for 15 courses, including chemistry, mechanical engineering and psychology, had gone up.

The Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, which represents 250 leading independent schools, is now advising students to print out universities’ websites on the day application forms are submitted in case admissions tutors attempt to raise entry requirements at a later date. Tim Hands, the master of Magdalen College School, Oxford, and chairman of HMC’s universities committee, said any late change to degree entry requirements “effectively debars less able students who have applied for the course in good faith”.
“We must know from day one – when applications are made – which A-level subjects you need and at which grade,” he said.

What a mess!

WISHIWASRICH_2

I assume everyone has seen this but for the sake of completion

University applications for 2012 are running at 9% below last year's level, says the Ucas admissions service.
When overseas applications are taken out, the figures show a 12% drop in applications from UK students.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15430180

WISHIWASRICH_2

Universities see 40% fall in soft subject applications

Applications for 'mass communication and documentation' subjects, such as media studies and PR, have been hit the hardest, falling 40.6 per cent compared to this time last year.

the more traditional university courses such as mathematics, engineering and languages have not fared quite as badly as others. With three months to go before the final deadline, applications for mathematics and computer science are down 2.6 per cent on this time last year, for law, they are down 5.2 per cent and for linguistics and classics, down 1.7 per cent. Applications for history and philosophical studies are down 5.9 per cent and European language and literature down 10.1%.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8846236/Universities-see-40-fall-in-soft-subject-applications.html

WISHIWASRICH_2

Applications for worthless bits of paper, down 9% according to Universities

lol!
http://www.thespoof.co.uk/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i101255

gadgetmind

WISHIWASRICH wrote: »

lol!
http://www.thespoof.co.uk/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i101255

I wonder if the terrible grammar, spelling and punctuation in that article was deliberate?