Tuition fees

[StarsOfCCTV]

Many universities in England and Wales want a sharp increase in tuition fees, a survey by BBC News has concluded.
Two thirds of vice-chancellors, speaking anonymously, said they needed to raise fees, suggesting levels of between £4,000 and £20,000 per year.
More than half of university heads want students to pay at least £5,000 per year or for there to be no upper limit.
England's Higher Education Minister David Lammy said there was an "important debate to be had".
The National Union of Students has warned of debts of £32,000 for students if fees rise to £7,000 per year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7946912.stm
:thumbsdow

[Abigail]

As a member of the new student union at my university, this is something that we're looking at seriously. The current union runs a campaine called Broke&Broken where students go online and add their debt to the total of the university. It serves no purpose with regards to tackling tuition fees.

The general consensus at our university is, we are getting very short changed by lecturers and the university. Lecturers are late, don't teach for the full time, don't cover everything they are supposed to and don't reply to emails.

If the government wants to charge up to £7000 a year for tuition fees then they need to ensure universities are teaching to the highest standards possible. I very much begrudge paying £3k+ for six months' worth of power point slides and only half the teaching time I'm timetabled for each week.

When the new union comes into effect on 1st August, tuition fees are top of our agenda to address. If the Government want more people, especially those from deprived backgrounds, to go to university then they need to make sure it is an accessible option for everyone, not just the well-off families.

The grants currently provided by the government (means tested) are simply not enough. I haven't lived lavishly, gone out every night of the week spending lots of money, yet I am at the end of my overdraft (for the second time in six months). There are no cutbacks I can make, I went out last night for the first time in a month, I only buy food I need, I don't go to the takeaway much. I've even been making food from scratch to save money. Yet I'm broker than broke. I don't get my next loan until 20th April.

My dad earns a healthy wage (mum can't work) and I get some money from them each month. They've been hit by the credit crunch and my dad may lose his job soon. I know my mum feels guilty because they can't give me more money.

The whole system needs a long hard look at. Tuition fees need capping. If universities can't make ends meet then they need to take stock, reduce the number of courses and lecturers they offer, consider closing satellite campuses, look for investment from the local business community etc. Raising tuition fees is not the answer.


I didn't realise how long this was going to be :p

[Perdita]

The danger is that this is going back to the old days where only the rich could afford a good education for their children. Higher education should be affordable to all who make the grades.

[di marco]

i heard they were thinking about making the maximum fee £8,000, im just glad i wont be paying that! £20,000 is ridiculous, who would actually go to a uni charging that? youd be in about £75,000 worth of debt after 3yrs what with accomodation etc as well! theres no way anyone then would be able to afford to go to uni unless they were really rich

[DaVeyWaVey]

I'm against this too. I count myself lucky that I'm going to uni this year. I could guarantee that I wouldn't go to uni if the fees went up in the year I was meant to be going.

Being up to £32,000 debt! Is it really worth it?! As Perdita said, university education should be for people who work hard and get the grades. Raising the tuition fees would just mean people from poorer backgrounds would miss out on the opportunity of further education.

[Abigail]

I'll carry on for the next couple of years but if I was starting next year (I doubt the changes would come in before September), I would seriously think about if I could afford it and the effects such a large debt would have on the rest of my life. There's no way people would ever pay off a student debt of £75k+ in their lifetime.

[Trinity]

There are serious inequalities in the system.

In Scotland, Scottish student fees are paid by the (Scottish) Government, however this doesn't mean that everything is sweetness and light north of the border. We do not have top-up fees;our Universities are facing serious funding issues, and consider themselves to be at a fiscal disadvantage to English Universities that can raise funds.

The reason that English (and Welsh) Universities need the extra funds is due to the lack of Government funding in Higher Education, and that is a problem on both sides of the border.

[Chloe O'brien]

When I was studying for my HNC/D I had to borrow £9,000 over two years as I only got 50% grant, which was about £3,000 a year to live on.

[Abbie]

what this is mad!!! Im already looking at how much I have to borrow at the moment

Those prices are crazy, you can buy houses for less that

[Meh]

It's known as debt slavery. View it as a form of control.

[di marco]

(I doubt the changes would come in before September)

i dont think they would be allowed to put them up before september cos people have already applied

[Katy]

it is ridiculas, the country is in a recession as it is and 3000 a year is too much in my eyes especially for what you are paying for we have had some real difficulties at the moment on my degree

How is it fair that only the rich get to go to further there education it should be available to everyone

[Kim]

I think that the fees that are paid by students shouldn't be universal but done on the quality of the course. I would imagine that Oxford and Cambridge graduates have better employment prospects than someone from a university that required E grades at A Level, and if anything's rising then the fees should at least reflect the quality of the course provided. That way although some may not be able to go to the best universities for financial reasons, they should still be able to go to university.

[Abigail]

The pay increases were revealed in a survey for Times Higher Education.

The survey revealed that university heads took home an average salary of £193,970 in 2007-08 and that, whilst British workers received a pay increase of just 4 per cent on the previous year, Vice-chancellors' pay packets increased by nine per cent. In total, the higher education sector paid its vice-chancellors more than £30 million.

“It is obscene for vice-chancellors to be lining their pockets with such huge pay increases while calling for students to be charged even higher fees. Earlier this week, they were fantasising about charging fees of £7,000 a year and plunging students into over £32,000 of debt. With their six-figure salaries, many vice-chancellors are obviously divorced from the stark reality that faces most of us in this country as we enter a recession," says NUS President Wes Streeting.

“Yesterday, hundreds of students from across England went to Westminster to tell their MPs that they want an alternative to fees, so that the greed of individual vice-chancellors is no longer a factor in the funding of our higher education system," he added.

“The current recession is a stark reminder that excessive levels of debt are unhealthy, both for individuals and the economy. We believe that higher education should be free at the point of use for all students, with graduates making a contribution according to how much they are benefitting financially from their own use of the system.

“We need a proper debate about higher education funding, so that we can make the system fairer for students, graduates and their families.”

Information provided by Times Higher Education


http://www.nus.org.uk/en/News/News/NUS-slams-obscene-pay-rises-for-university-VCs/

[Katy]

im struggling enough at the minute and my debt will be insane this is the most stupid idea this country have had in a long time

[di marco]

im struggling enough at the minute and my debt will be insane this is the most stupid idea this country have had in a long time

i agree, if it cost anymore i dont think i would have been able to go to uni. im gonna be in about £30,000 worth of debt as it is

[Abigail]

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/NohigherFees/

Sign the petition to stop the government removing the cap on tuition fees.

[Abbie]

Ive signed

I think its mad how much they want to ask for