Increasing Tuition Fees : Yay or nay?

[DeletedUser]

Increasing Tuition Fees : Yay or nay?

• The coalition government seeks to increase tuition fees from £3290 to £9870 from 2012.
• The government insists this is to continue funding high standards at UK universities while keeping higher education sustainable.
• Tuition fee loans and maintenance loans will be more generous, however commercial rates of interest may be introduced.
• Scholarships and bursaries will be more numerous to assist poorer students.
• The NUS accuses the government of harming those most able to get the UK out of recession.
• The Liberal Democrats, in particular Nick Clegg, have come under heavy fire for their U-turn on this tuition fee policy when their election pledge was not to raise tuition fees beyond inflation.
• Protests dated on 11/10/10 were 200% of NUS estimates in turnout.
• The Conservative HQ was ransacked by radical student groups and suspected freeloading rioters. The police were overwhelmed by the underestimated turnout.
• EMA will also be slashed under government plans.

Discuss.

Rep appreciated.

 

[DeletedUser]

[clt]Definitely a big fat NAY from me... i still have over £15,000 from my student loan and ive been paying it off for a few years now... trouble is, when i came out of uni with my degree, i tried to get a job in my chosen career but couldnt, worked for free for ages, still nada... in the end got a normal office job and have done ever since... working next to people doing the same job who dont have degrees and dont have £15,000 of debt. This is just going to make things much worse...

I think instead they should be getting rid of these mickey mouse degrees that serve no purpose like Equestrian Psychology, Aromatherapy or Equine Science.

At the very least they should ensure that there are jobs or opportunities available at the end of degrees, sandwich courses dont always work, i've heard a lot of stories about employers using the opporunity to exploit students to save some money.

Still, i had a laugh... but i dont envy the potential uni students in the country right now who have to make a choice between taking a risk and going to uni, potentially coming out the other end with no job and a debt they will be paying until they are 50... or getting a normal job and never knowing what they could have achieved.

Sad times, when we ask the government in 30 years time why theres a shortage of scientists and doctors, i wonder what they will blame it on?

Repped btw[/clt]

 

[DeletedUser]

NAY.

Yay for tory HQ being smashed tho.

Levels the playing field, a little.

 

[DeletedUser]

[clt]Definitely a big fat NAY from me... i still have over £15,000 from my student loan and ive been paying it off for a few years now... trouble is, when i came out of uni with my degree, i tried to get a job in my chosen career but couldnt, worked for free for ages, still nada... in the end got a normal office job and have done ever since... working next to people doing the same job who dont have degrees and dont have £15,000 of debt. This is just going to make things much worse...

I think instead they should be getting rid of these mickey mouse degrees that serve no purpose like Equestrian Psychology, Aromatherapy or Equine Science.

At the very least they should ensure that there are jobs or opportunities available at the end of degrees, sandwich courses dont always work, i've heard a lot of stories about employers using the opporunity to exploit students to save some money.

Still, i had a laugh... but i dont envy the potential uni students in the country right now who have to make a choice between taking a risk and going to uni, potentially coming out the other end with no job and a debt they will be paying until they are 50... or getting a normal job and never knowing what they could have achieved.

Sad times, when we ask the government in 30 years time why theres a shortage of scientists and doctors, i wonder what they will blame it on?

Repped btw[/clt]

Absolutely agree on reducing the joke degrees around. Stick to degrees that hold value. And the UK has never managed to match countries like Japan on thinks like science... a shame really, science is arguably the only thing left that can bring the great changes for our entire species. But then, I'm biased. I do Biochemistry hehe...

Just waiting for the lucky sod who cures cancer... or a type of it anyway... the £££ will be flowing for that lucky guy

And +rep to the protestors who trashed the Tory HQ, snobs got what they deserved imo. They send their kids to Eton and then stop everyone going to uni after. Nice move.

 

[DeletedUser]

Absolutely agree on reducing the joke degrees around. Stick to degrees that hold value.

[clt]Yeah i think its a bit messed up that so many universities around the country are churning out graduates with degrees in media studies... yet there are so very few opportunities actually out there in the media world... they need to be more realistic.[/clt]

 

[DeletedUser]

[clt]Yeah i think its a bit messed up that so many universities around the country are churning out graduates with degrees in media studies... yet there are so very few opportunities actually out there in the media world... they need to be more realistic.[/clt]

And many jobs don't need degrees.... you probably learn more about horses from working in the stables, then from academic studies on them. Unless you are learning about their anatomy, but that's only a tiny aspect about how to CARE for a horse.

To use your equine studies example ofc.

 

[DeletedUser]

Just waiting for the lucky sod who cures cancer... or a type of it anyway... the £££ will be flowing for that lucky guy

There never will be a cure for cancer, as it it's the body's mutations that are needed to keep us alive. Reducing the risk of cancer yes, that would bring big money, but cure? No.

Tuition fees to me seems a step backwards for this government. They want to reduce the national debt for the long run? Therefore they increase tuition fees, which in turn reduces the number of students, particularly those who are going to do high-payed jobs with their degrees because those are the degrees that cost more. Therefore in the future less money is going to spent on the economy because there will be less people in the high paying jobs.

They are living for the short term and not thinking about long term prospects. But then, I also think they have Ulterior motive in the fact they want the public sector squashed to allow the private sector to grow. Therefore by stopping people going to university they are hoping that they will further the growth of the private sector and increase economic stability.

The thing everyone seems to be missing is..

There will always be a need for Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Dentists, Vets etc... and years down the line when there is a limited number of these important professionals around, what then?

Can I also add, we will more than likely see an increase in the number of personnel in the army soon. This will be due to the fact the army will pay for some courses if you join up with them for a limited amount of time.

 

[DeletedUser]

Can I also add, we will more than likely see an increase in the number of personnel in the army soon. This will be due to the fact the army will pay for some courses if you join up with them for a limited amount of time.

[clt]The armed forces, Navy and RAF are all cutting their numbers between now and 2015, the number of personnel in the army will only decrease[/clt]

 

[DeletedUser]

It's needed. Yay.

 

[DeletedUser6726]

I completely agree with Adellion's statement.

Fees are getting a bit rediculous now.

I was lucky, I did 2 degrees through the Armed Forces (Electronic Engineering & Software Development), now I am out of the Armed Forces in the big wide world, it has become quite aparrent in my current line of work that certain trade skills are becoming increasingly rare due to the number of 'Mickey Mouse' courses that are now available, this joined with the lack of apprenticeships now available (how i gained my qualifications), skill sets will only continue to diminish.

This can only be counter productive in the long run

 

[DeletedUser]

It's needed. Yay.

[clt]Justify or fail :villagers:[/clt]

 

[DeletedUser]

It's ridiculous. Since when should you pay an extortionate amount for higher education and come out in debts of over £40,000?

 

[DeletedUser]

Nay :icon_confused: I want to go to Uni... A top university but I come from a very poor area and family. It'll be even harder on me in the long-term than it will be for the richer students. (Tell me if it's different or if the Fee's will differ.) Also, due to the recent and increasing lack of jobs I don't see how i'm supposed to afford the living expenses etc. while at Uni & be saving to pay back the money.

 

[DeletedUser]

As a student planning to go to university I'm against the increased fees, but if it was financially unviable for things to carry on as they were then I respect their decision to increase them.

I'm sure the next few years will tell if the system of paying loans back has been improved or not

 

[DeletedUser]

I believe since students are likely to be the cleverest of our future society (with exceptions I'm sure) I believe they should have favourism of not having cuts to their "production", as they are the most likely weapon (in terms of labour) to get us out of the recession. Assuming they do good degrees, not rubbish ones.

Thoughts on this point?

 

[DeletedUser]

[clt]Justify or fail :villagers:[/clt]

Universities need more financing from Students. It's pretty simple, the education budget is being cut because of the previous governments financial failures so the Universities need to find a way to make up for this money.

Pretty simple.

 

[DeletedUser]

It's ridiculous. Since when should you pay an extortionate amount for higher education and come out in debts of over £40,000?

Universities will have to ask permission to charge the highest year fee of £9,000 per year and they will have to fit a certain criterea which includes giving more places to students from a poorer background. The average price is going to be around £6,000 I believe. Also the government has changed when students have to start paying back the loans from £15,000 to £21,000 so you don't have to pay it back into you get a semi-decent job.

Nay :icon_confused: I want to go to Uni... A top university but I come from a very poor area and family. It'll be even harder on me in the long-term than it will be for the richer students. (Tell me if it's different or if the Fee's will differ.) Also, due to the recent and increasing lack of jobs I don't see how i'm supposed to afford the living expenses etc. while at Uni & be saving to pay back the money.

Universities have been told to offer more grants and scholarships to students from poorer backgrounds and have been ordered Universities that have fees of over £6,000 to do that. Some more good news, maintenance grants have been raised from £2,9000 to £3,250 for people with households earning less then £25k

Don't you know that after 30 years the debt is instantly wiped out? Even if you've not paid it? So this is not really a major worry at all. It's just a lot of nonsense.

 

[DeletedUser]

Universities will have to ask permission to charge the highest year fee of £9,000 per year and they will have to fit a certain criterea which includes giving more places to students from a poorer background. The average price is going to be around £6,000 I believe. Also the government has changed when students have to start paying back the loans from £15,000 to £21,000 so you don't have to pay it back into you get a semi-decent job.



Universities have been told to offer more grants and scholarships to students from poorer backgrounds and have been ordered Universities that have fees of over £6,000 to do that. Some more good news, maintenance grants have been raised from £2,9000 to £3,250 for people with households earning less then £25k

Don't you know that after 30 years the debt is instantly wiped out? Even if you've not paid it? So this is not really a major worry at all. It's just a lot of nonsense.

If after 30 years you still haven't got a job that pays over £21,000 then i'd say that's something to be worried about. I will have to begin paying back my student loan as soon as I start working, and more than likely my fees will be the top end of the spectrum. Considering how difficult life is trying to establish yourself in the real world as well as having to pay back extra fees then i'd say this isn't a good thing.

The thing I am most upset about is the fact that I cannot go on a gap year next year like I planned because of this fee raising. Otherwise the gap year would effectively cost me ~10 grand.

 

[DeletedUser]

I haven't managed to read it all, but, as a 17 year old (first year of college) I will hopefully be attending University in two, maybe three years time. I am very Conservative, but I do not come from a wealthy back ground (as I posted in the Conservative vs Labour discussion thread), however, I do and I do not agree with tuition fees increasing.

Firstly, if they were to drop the "joke" courses and pump more of the money into our "real" degrees I would be quite happy to be honest as the facilities we would be provided with would be much better (or so you'd think), however, the media, as always, love to exaggerate situations, it will only cost you £9000 a year if you are doing one of the most costly and highest degrees the University has to offer (some University's won't even reach that standard!), plus as pointed out above somewhere, they have to ask permission.

Cat Like Thief said how they didn't managed to break into the career they wanted to, may I ask, are you still trying? I understand how it can be hard to break into an industry, however, a degree, can, on average, earn you double the salary of someone who didn't attend University, thus ennabling you to handle these debts more comfortably, not to mention you have to earn £X a year before you can even have your salary taken from you to pay back the debts.

 

[DeletedUser]

Universities need more financing from Students. It's pretty simple, the education budget is being cut because of the previous governments financial failures so the Universities need to find a way to make up for this money.

Pretty simple.

[clt]Yes, correct the mistakes of the previous government by making an even bigger mistake... just keep digging... :icon_rolleyes:[/clt]

Cat Like Thief said how they didn't managed to break into the career they wanted to, may I ask, are you still trying? I understand how it can be hard to break into an industry, however, a degree, can, on average, earn you double the salary of someone who didn't attend University, thus ennabling you to handle these debts more comfortably, not to mention you have to earn £X a year before you can even have your salary taken from you to pay back the debts.

[clt]Its great to have a degree, it opens a lot of doors, but having committed yourself to a lifetime of debt for a degree that wont lead anywhere, is it really worth it?[/clt]

Don't you know that after 30 years the debt is instantly wiped out? Even if you've not paid it? So this is not really a major worry at all. It's just a lot of nonsense.

[clt]So I'd be 56 by then, practically retired... but yes, a load of nonsense[/clt]