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£9000 Tuition Fees

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Students to pay up to £9000 in tuition fees

20100907_nus_photo_w.jpg

LOL @ Nick. I'm pretty sure there's a better image of him signing a seriously large, novelty pledge, but I can't find it.

Any of you poor buggers thinking of heading off to uni from 2012 onwards?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My dad said something very interesting to me over the weekend - he of a generation where uni was free and poorer students such as him, received
    generous grants. He said that were he part of my generation, he would probably feel a lot of resentment towards his generation for having sold us out.

    Mortgage on 2.5 / 3x your salary? Forget it.
    Buying a house before you're 30? Forget it.
    Not living a life with a Damoclean sword of debt hovering over your head
    for a lifetime? Forget it.

    Some food for thought - my grandparents, who were by no means wealthy, paid off their modest mortgage in SEVEN years. I know, I didn't believe
    it either.

    Anyone fancy starting a revolution?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There's certainly something quite rich about a bunch of people who received the very best education for free telling you you'll have to pay £6000 a year for a bog standard one.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Absolute joke. I dont think theres much more that needs to be said about it really. Im lucky enough that i left university before all this will start but i know of people through my family who want(ed) to go university, really feeling sorry for them now!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My dad said something very interesting to me over the weekend - he of a generation where uni was free and poorer students such as him, received
    generous grants. He said that were he part of my generation, he would probably feel a lot of resentment towards his generation for having sold us out.

    Mortgage on 2.5 / 3x your salary? Forget it.
    Buying a house before you're 30? Forget it.
    Not living a life with a Damoclean sword of debt hovering over your head
    for a lifetime? Forget it.

    Some food for thought - my grandparents, who were by no means wealthy, paid off their modest mortgage in SEVEN years. I know, I didn't believe
    it either.

    Anyone fancy starting a revolution?

    yup, count me in
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As long they don't mess with the Open University, I'm not too fussed. Most people go to university for the wrong reasons, maybe higher tuitions fees will make people think more carefully whether it is the right choice for them. I'm not in favour of it, but I'm not too fussed seen as I think university education is overrated.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Most people go to university for the wrong reasons, maybe higher tuitions fees will make people think more carefully whether it is the right choice for them.
    If we want to reduce the number going to university then we should marginalise the less academically gifted, not those who are less financially well off.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Most people go to university for the wrong reasons, maybe higher tuitions fees will make people think more carefully whether it is the right choice for them. I'm not in favour of it, but I'm not too fussed seen as I think university education is overrated.

    I don't know about anyone else; but when I was in 6th form, uni was basically forced upon us. No information was given out about other options after A-Levels.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It is just crazy.

    This is a decision made by people who didn't pay any tuition fees for their uni places.

    However, it makes me feel lucky to have graduated this year. if I hadn't I would be seriously doubting whether uni is worth it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    sanitize wrote: »
    If we want to reduce the number going to university then we should marginalise the less academically gifted, not those who are less financially well off.

    I agree, that is why I think it is a bad idea, in an average university higher tuition fees will increase the ratio of rich-and-thick students to students who've worked hard for a place.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    I don't know about anyone else; but when I was in 6th form, uni was basically forced upon us. No information was given out about other options after A-Levels.

    This is still the case now.

    I'm applying for uni at the moment, so providing all goes well, I will hopefully be starting in September 2011. Even at the moment I personally think uni fees are too expensive, considering the number of jobs which require a degree.

    Roll on many years of debt and owing money to SLC :grump:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Anyone fancy starting a revolution?

    Bankers first up against the wall ;)

    Then the idiot politicians who used Uni as an alternative to youth unemployment.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If it is truly education one desires then the libraries are still operating (for now).

    The internet possibly cheaper still.

    If, however, one is desirous of a piece of paper with authority patronage informing the world how wonderful you would perform as a corporate bond servant, I guess that is cost of doing business.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think im being overcharged by paying £3000 let alone 9!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Some food for thought - my grandparents, who were by no means wealthy, paid off their modest mortgage in SEVEN years. I know, I didn't believe
    it either.

    Anyone fancy starting a revolution?

    To turn the clock back ?

    The first mortgages were restricted to 6 years by law, based on the old scriptural year of release.

    Money talks and, of course, that was soon overturned.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If it is truly education one desires then the libraries are still operating (for now).

    The internet possibly cheaper still.

    If, however, one is desirous of a piece of paper with authority patronage informing the world how wonderful you would perform as a corporate bond servant, I guess that is cost of doing business.

    Would you want to be treated by a doctor who learnt medicine on the Internet? Or perhaps live in a building designed by someone with a correspondence degree in civil engineering from the University of Wikipedia?

    I partly see what you're saying viz arts and humanities but to denigrate all degrees as something you could just learn in a library is inaccurate and unhelpful.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lexi99 wrote: »
    I think im being overcharged by paying £3000 let alone 9!

    You are getting a bargain compared to non-EU students.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If it is truly education one desires then the libraries are still operating (for now).

    The internet possibly cheaper still.

    If, however, one is desirous of a piece of paper with authority patronage informing the world how wonderful you would perform as a corporate bond servant, I guess that is cost of doing business.

    With the exceptions noted by Thunderstruck, you aren't that far off.

    I'm no dumbass, I earn a damned good wage and I'm in a pretty senior and responsible job. Yet I only have equivalent of six GCSEs.

    Academia isn't everything.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Academia isn't everything, and while there are many many problems with the higher fees, hopefully one thing it will do is stop the crashing downfall of degree standards.

    If students know what they are paying for, then that should hopefully drive up teaching standards in universities to provide a high quality education.

    Equally, market forces might cut down the number of waste of time degrees that offer no future value.

    And finally, by the sounds of it it's actually going to be a fairer system than the current one, or at least has the potential to be. From what I've been fees will be set at one level for that particular course at that particular institution and the education paid for by the student in the future when they are earning. Hopefully getting rid of the current stupid system whereby what you pay for your education depends on your parents income.

    It's not perfect by any stretch, but it's definitely not all bad.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hopefully getting rid of the current stupid system whereby what you pay for your education depends on your parents income.

    :confused: I thought everyone (UK, at least) was entitled to a fee loan, regardless of what your parents income is?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    :confused: I thought everyone (UK, at least) was entitled to a fee loan, regardless of what your parents income is?

    It used to be the case that everyone was entitled to a minimum loan, however, this is amount would usually just cover rent. You could apply to be means tested in order to see whether your parents' income was low enough for you to qualify for an extra loan (or to be given money, in some cases, I think) in order to cover your course fees. I can't remember whether this extra loan/grant came from a local authority or the SLC - it's been so long!

    I don't know how it's done since the euphemistically named 'top-up fees' came into play.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It used to be the case that everyone was entitled to a minimum loan, however, this is amount would usually just cover rent. You could apply to be means tested in order to see whether your parents' income was low enough for you to qualify for an extra loan (or to be given money, in some cases, I think) in order to cover your course fees. I can't remember whether this extra loan/grant came from a local authority or the SLC - it's been so long!

    I don't know how it's done since the euphemistically named 'top-up fees' came into play.

    It's SLC - they went centralised last year - that was such a pain. My stuff was in sent off in March and I was finally fully assessed in November.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Raise entry requirements not fees. When I started I just felt like they'd let pretty much anyone in, I was told I needed A level biology to get in, but when I got here loads of people didn't have it. First year especially there were loads of people that should never have bothered, luckily they tend to drop out as time goes on but not before the uni has took their money.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    It's SLC - they went centralised last year - that was such a pain. My stuff was in sent off in March and I was finally fully assessed in November.

    Does it work much the same way with top-up fees as it did when fees were about £1000-£1500? As in: basic loan + mean tested amount = total loan?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Everyone is entitled to a fee loan, but how much your fees are in the first place varies with your parents income which is just plan daft.

    It's your loan, to pay of when you are earning, why should your parents income have the slightest impact?

    Maintenance loans are also means assessed, which makes slightly more sense, not a lot, but slightly as it assumes parents will generally make a contribution towards their students maintenance.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Everyone is entitled to a fee loan, but how much your fees are in the first place varies with your parents income which is just plan daft.

    It's your loan, to pay of when you are earning, why should your parents income have the slightest impact?

    Maintenance loans are also means assessed, which makes slightly more sense, not a lot, but slightly as it assumes parents will generally make a contribution towards their students maintenance.

    That's unfair. My parents have a relatively high income at the moment, but I know I won't get a single penny off them past the age of 18, unless it's a loan on which they'll charge interest, whereas a fair few of the parents of my peers I know will put a lot of money towards their children's education.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Everyone is entitled to a fee loan, but how much your fees are in the first place varies with your parents income which is just plan daft.

    It's your loan, to pay of when you are earning, why should your parents income have the slightest impact?

    Maintenance loans are also means assessed, which makes slightly more sense, not a lot, but slightly as it assumes parents will generally make a contribution towards their students maintenance.

    So if your parents earn over a certain amount you get stuck with having to borrow the full £3225 a year in course fees?

    So, is it not uncommon to be borrowing £6000+ a year currently?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Borrowing over £6000 a year is currently pretty standard.

    Grace, the fees being different depending on parents income is entirely unfair. The maintenance loan avaliable being different is slightly less unfair, because like you say, parents with higher incomes are more likely to be in a position to loan their children money towards living at university, or sometimes contribute towards costs whereas students from lower income familiies are more likely to be entirely dependant on loans so a higher loan is avaliable to them.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Everyone is entitled to a fee loan, but how much your fees are in the first place varies with your parents income which is just plan daft.

    That's not the way it works now - you pay £3290 regardless of how much your parents earn.
    Maintenance loans are also means assessed, which makes slightly more sense, not a lot, but slightly as it assumes parents will generally make a contribution towards their students maintenance.

    But OTOH, they probably can't afford to give everyone maximum loan plus grant. I did live with someone who put down that she lives with her mum and her stepdad who don't earn much. So, she get most of the grant plus loan. She then got money off her dad and all her rent paid for by him.

    She then moaned because where my parents don't earn much, I got much more than her.:rolleyes: However, unlike me, I don't think her first year has left her in debt of more than £10.5k.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I went to college because I wasn't given any other options by my mother, but also by my school. I wasn't given information on other routes to getting the job I want. Only thing I learned shortly after were apprenticeships, which weren't, and still aren't broad. It's mostly just joinery. So having been kicked from college, I got a job, then more jobs, and then some more. To where I am now, thinking of rejoining, to hopefully go to university. Looks like I paid the price of not going back years ago, and now I'll be paying a price in the future.

    Do the government, and people who agree with them, think everyone will just say yes to a dead end minimum wage job, just to "fill numbers"?
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