Is education in the UK a scam ?

justcamehere5 · 6 November 2019 at 9:47PM

UK tuition fee alone is 9,250 GBP a year. A Bachelor is 3 years long.

So that is almost 30 000 GBP in loans.

I finished university last year with a loan for tuition and parents paid for maintenance. Got a very well-paid internship and paid them back. The internship resulted in a competitive (corporate gig for a big global brand) graduate offer and I have been working ever since.

Don't get me wrong, I do not dislike people from other countries. I got married to my Singaporean girlfriend (yes, crazy early but we just eloped) But what bothers me is that on the same graduate programme I have people from Germany, Denmark, Netherlands and brits who did uni there and came back. Nothing wrong, just the fact that I have 30 000 GBP in debt with interest and they don't. Doesn't even matter at the end if you did a top UK school or one in Germany/Denmark where you just pay 300 EUR per semester. You end up in the same programme, make the same money and have the same everything.

Given that taxation in the UK is similarly high as the aforementioned countries, did I simply get duped? I am mad as heck how those countries can have just as good universities as ours but they are free. I am so !!!!ed off I am might just get a Singaporean passport, move there and default on this loan. As long as my mum sends me Yorkshire for a nice cuppa, I am still a true brit. Amirite ?!

Rant over.

Neil_Jones · 6 November 2019 at 9:53PM

You do realise your £30k if you don't contribute to it through your paycheck is wiped after 30 years and that as many as 83% of students will not clear it completely if at all? So on that basis it may cost you nothing at all.

You don't pay upfront for tuition at £9k a year. As has been stated on the main site for a while the statements they send you saying you owe £x thousand and we've added £y in interest are at best bogus and serve only to line the budgie's cage.

BrassicWoman · 6 November 2019 at 10:08PM

Well. Not all of the UK. Different countries, different systems.

theoretica · 6 November 2019 at 10:10PM

A good university is expensive to run - salaries, buildings, books etc... Different countries choose to fund this in different ways - doesn't make any particular way a scam.

ruperts · 6 November 2019 at 10:19PM

There's no deception or fraudulence involved so it's not a scam.

Education in other countries still has to be paid for. If it's paid for out of general taxation then everyone pays, even those who don't directly benefit from it. How would you feel about someone from say a disadvantaged background with few career prospects being forced to pay for your education?

Personally I think having well educated citizens indirectly benefits everyone, so I would prefer that fees were lower, if not free. But I can understand why people would be of the opinion that those who directly benefit from the education should pay for it themselves.

Either way, the interest rates currently being charged are ridiculous. Again not a scam, but ridiculous. It's one thing asking people to pay for their own higher education, quite another making a profit out of it.

justcamehere5 · 6 November 2019 at 10:19PM

Neil_Jones wrote: »

You do realise your £30k if you don't contribute to it through your paycheck is wiped after 30 years and that as many as 83% of students will not clear it completely if at all? So on that basis it may cost you nothing at all.

You don't pay upfront for tuition at £9k a year. As has been stated on the main site for a while the statements they send you saying you owe £x thousand and we've added £y in interest are at best bogus and serve only to line the budgie's cage.

BrassicWoman wrote: »

Well. Not all of the UK. Different countries, different systems.

But I pay monthly fees off my salary and I will end up paying more if I am a high-earner, which I will be. They don't do that and will still be as good earner as me. Crazy.

theoretica wrote: »

A good university is expensive to run - salaries, buildings, books etc... Different countries choose to fund this in different ways - doesn't make any particular way a scam.

Yeah they do it through high taxation, which is the same here LOL.

justcamehere5 · 6 November 2019 at 10:22PM

ruperts wrote: »

Either way, the interest rates currently being charged are ridiculous. Again not a scam, but ridiculous. It's one thing asking people to pay for their own higher education, quite another making a profit out of it.

Especially when I could have gone to Germany or the Netherlands if no fluency in German, or even Scotland.... get a much cheaper degree and get a similar if not same opportunity in London for the exact same salary.

30 000 in debt when looking to save for a house is a huge hurdle.

Savvy_Sue · 6 November 2019 at 10:31PM

I hesitate to suggest this, but if you were bright enough to go to University, surely you were bright enough to work out before you went that there might be cheaper ways of doing it? You know, like some of your friends did ...

Although then you wouldn't have met your wife, so maybe that makes it all worthwhile?

(I hesitate, because one of mine had one of the London universities on his UCAS application. And then decided he didn't want to be in London during the Olympics. You would have thought someone applying to do maths could have worked out before he put the application in that he would be there during the Olympics. It didn't matter because he had other offers, but it seemed like a waste of an application to me ... )

justcamehere5 · 6 November 2019 at 10:39PM

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I hesitate to suggest this, but if you were bright enough to go to University, surely you were bright enough to work out before you went that there might be cheaper ways of doing it? You know, like some of your friends did ...

Although then you wouldn't have met your wife, so maybe that makes it all worthwhile?

Don't hesitate at all, I certainly was not bright enough to figure out that England's system is absolute garbage and given these "inequalities" occur where someone comes out 30k on top of someone like that the people governing education certainly are NOT bright.

Surely, it will get better if Corbyn comes into power and try to tax to me to death. No worries, will be in Singapore and will make ZERO payments on this loan.

Blatchford · 6 November 2019 at 10:39PM

justcamehere5 wrote: »

Especially when I could have gone to Germany or the Netherlands if no fluency in German, or even Scotland.... get a much cheaper degree and get a similar if not same opportunity in London for the exact same salary.

30 000 in debt when looking to save for a house is a huge hurdle.

So why didn't you? Many European universities teach in English AND offer free tuition (and some include living costs too) to any EU citizen.

Don't get me wrong but I don't believe a word of your posts except for the fact that you'd really like to have a pop at other countries. Don't let the door slam on your backside on your way to Singapore.

justcamehere5 · 6 November 2019 at 10:43PM

Blatchford wrote: »

So why didn't you? Many European universities teach in English AND offer free tuition (and some include living costs too) to any EU citizen.

Don't get me wrong but I don't believe a word of your posts except for the fact that you'd really like to have a pop at other countries. Don't let the door slam on your backside on your way to Singapore.

Sorry, I used to love this country enough to believe its education is built for me to thrive.

Now, housing prices + this debt and this Brexit uncertainty is a great environment for young adults to be in.

Is education in the UK a scam ?

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