Who should pay for kids to go to Uni? Kids or parents?

Hedgehog99

You can no longer expect to wave your children off into the big wide world at 18. Part of deciding to have children should include whether you can support them financially and emotionally through school and university/vocational training and then allow for them to return home as boomerang kids, probably not leaving home until their late 20's. Historically, O and A levels equipped most people for life and work, and only the top abilities went to university to become the highly-skilled professions (doctors, vets, lawyers etc). Now, the school exams have been dumbed down and students "need" to study further even just for an average job. Benefits the government of course, being able to class people as students instead of them being unemployed. Universities are over-crowded, having to run the same class multiple times to fit in all the students. University towns are swamped with student accommodation at the expense of their own 20-somethings trying to get on the housing ladder. University should go back to being the additional training for the really highly-skilled professions.

onlyroz

If loans etc are going to be offered they *must* be enough to cover the basic costs of living. As it stands, the basic loan is in most cases not enough to cover accommodation let alone food, transport, books etc. If we're going to saddle our youngsters with debt let's at least make sure that it's enough to cover the purpose for which it's intended.

j.e.j.

Person_one wrote: »

I agree that higher education should be state funded, just as primary and secondary are.

I disagree that in the past, only the 'brightest and the best' went to university. There were huge inequalities based on class, and tons of brighter but poorer kids didn't get the chance.

It should be taxpayer funded, and all the inequalities in admissions need to be purged somehow so that its truly based on merit!

Yes it should be based on merit, and if it is to be tax-payer funded then the numbers of people 'going to uni' would have to decrease considerably, unless the British public want to pay much higher taxes in order to enable them to do so. University should be for the top percentile (be it 5% or 10% or whatever). That way a degree is really worth something, whereas at the moment it is not.

I think it was more egalitarian in the past (but obviously it wasn't perfect) under the old grant system. Many people who came from very humble backgrounds did go to university (by which I mean proper universities, not just the glorified colleges who like to call themselves 'unis' nowadays) and they got a grant to support them.

Yes there's always someone who tells of their old uncle who had an IQ of 164 and he really should have gone to university but the system failed him, blah blah. Equally there were men who were not that academically bright but whose wealthy parents paid for them to be coached to get into the top colleges.

Real equality has never yet been achieved.

Idiophreak

j.e.j. wrote: »

Yes it should be based on merit, and if it is to be tax-payer funded then the numbers of people 'going to uni' would have to decrease considerably, unless the British public want to pay much higher taxes in order to enable them to do so. University should be for the top percentile (be it 5% or 10% or whatever). That way a degree is really worth something, whereas at the moment it is not.

At the moment, anyone who gets a degree gets to have 3/4 years of fun, surrounded by like minded people.

Most will live away for the first time, learning how to cope in the real world, but with a well designed support system in place.

They get to indulge in learning for the sake of learning.

They get forced together with people from different countries, backgrounds and religions - probably learning a lot about tolerance along the way.

They get a sense of accomplishment having invested three years in something and got the reward.

They also, still, can expect to earn more over their lifetime than those without a degree.

I agree that a degree isn't the "golden ticket" it once was, allowing you to stroll into a cushy middle-management roles straight off the bat...but I'm not convinced that's a bad thing...and to suggest there's presently no worth to university is ridiculous in the extreme.

Indie_Kid

onlyroz wrote: »

If loans etc are going to be offered they *must* be enough to cover the basic costs of living. As it stands, the basic loan is in most cases not enough to cover accommodation let alone food, transport, books etc. If we're going to saddle our youngsters with debt let's at least make sure that it's enough to cover the purpose for which it's intended.

Where will the extra money come from?

lostinrates

There are other options.

People have suggested tax payer.

There are also employer funded options. I think a period of work after school to confirm direction, gain some funding and even try and procure a placement would be no bad option, perhaps focus choice of first degree a little more to the jobs market so that more 'diverse' areas could be looked at as post grad, with self funded or employer funded if it was marketable or even arts council or funded if there was some outlet there.

lulu_92

Kids - going to Uni is about learning to look after yourself

lostinrates wrote: »

There are other options.

People have suggested tax payer.

There are also employer funded options. I think a period of work after school to confirm direction, gain some funding and even try and procure a placement would be no bad option, perhaps focus choice of first degree a little more to the jobs market so that more 'diverse' areas could be looked at as post grad, with self funded or employer funded if it was marketable or even arts council or funded if there was some outlet there.

We were always told at college and uni to not think about going to drama school until we were in our early twenties. Drama schools want experience and dedication, and it takes time to show that. I'm not sure how many students RADA accept every year but when one of my lecturers went he was one of 9 people in his course, and he studied stage management

clara75

Parents - kids need to focus on studying

I grew up in a country where higher education was state-funded (not any more, they've since introduced tuition fees...). Admission to university was highly competitive and top students were awarded merit scholarships by the state. I was lucky to be one of the recipients of those scholarships and I also did summer jobs for extra money. However, my parents paid for food, accommodation, text books, clothes, etc - this was the norm in my country.

I am extremely grateful for that and I hope that I will be able to support my child while in university - tuition and other expenses if I'm able to. I don't see it as an obligation, but I'm really hoping I will be in a good place financially to do this.

I'm all in favour of state-funded education, but I think that's difficult to change... not impossible though, Germany has just scraped tuition fees again (have your kids learn German, it's free even for int'l students ).

j.e.j.

Idiophreak wrote: »

to suggest there's presently no worth to university is ridiculous in the extreme.

Just to be clear I didn't say a degree is worthless, I said that in relative terms it is worth a lot less than it used to be, which is true.

j.e.j.

clara75 wrote: »

I'm all in favour of state-funded education, but I think that's difficult to change... not impossible though, Germany has just scraped tuition fees again (have your kids learn German, it's free even for int'l students ).

I loved learning German, but it's worth noting that German 18-year-olds are considerably more mature than English 18-year-olds most of whom can barely wipe their bums without mummy's help :rotfl:

We were even banned from burning candles in our student rooms (in England), because some wally had managed to set fire to their bedroom by leaving a burning candle unattended by an open window with the curtains blowing about :wall: