Comments | onebyone: University funding

onebyone

University funding

Oct 12, 2010 13:14

If Lord Browne's plans go into effect, it seems likely that the four-year degree I took from Oxford will soon cost 24k at the very least, and perhaps more like 40k, in student debt for fees. What actually happened was that I graduated 10 years ago with 5k in student debt, none of which was because of tuition fees ( Read more... )

Comments 66

Without trawling through the comments a_llusive October 13 2010, 17:36:17 UTC

Aside from the actual figures, just looking at the repayment proposals ( ... )

Re: Without trawling through the comments undyingking October 13 2010, 21:08:28 UTC

The overseas aspect would be simply fixed by taxing all UK citizens as though resident, in the same way that the USA does. There are plenty of other good reasons to do this: residence overseas is the mechanism of all manner of large-scale tax avoidance.

Re: Without trawling through the comments a_llusive October 14 2010, 12:09:24 UTC

Well, EU citizens don't pay UK taxes anyway but have the same entitlement to UK universities as UK students - just as UK students can go to university in EU countries which don't charge their students at all, if they have the language skills. Taxing UK citizens resident overseas isn't a great help there ( ... )

Re: Without trawling through the comments undyingking October 14 2010, 13:51:51 UTC

Mm, the EU aspect complicates things. Although presumably non-British EU people studying here aren't funded by the UK govt anyway, but by themselves or their own govt. Plus of course Scottish students are handled differently. But these are just accounting issues that needn't obstruct the principle ( ... )

Thread 6

There's also an oddity in approach a_llusive October 13 2010, 17:37:30 UTC

Turning HE into an individual service with very limited central support yet trying to tie providers into a preference for UK nationals applying in a global market.

Interestingly a_llusive October 13 2010, 17:42:39 UTC

They've also made it awkward for universities trying to offset this with bursaries for the disadvantaged - having screwed up the tax effects.

When introduced, student fees were touted as a 'top-up' to allow universities to expand and improve services. Now they're planned to replace reduced (and already insufficient) core funding - so universities will inevitably have adjust to match their activities to substantially reduced incomes, difficulties and costs associated with recovery of money, but a climate where the 'customers' find they're paying ever more for the reduced offerings.
This may reflect to the individual the true costs of their HE but its hardly a way to ensure a thriving and robust sector for the nation, especially added as a short sharp shock without a plan addressing complementary training and educational sectors providing other options for those left, one way or another, out of the new degree framework.