Comments | vampyrefate: Tuition Fees

vampyrefate

Tuition Fees

Jun 10, 2010 13:31

I heard on Radio 4 today that the Coalition (still sounding like a heel wrestling stable), was considering taking the cap of undergraduate tuition fees. Further, the spokesman said that "Students should think of this as higher income tax, not as a big debt ( Read more... )

Comments 16

Tuition Fees blue_jez June 11 2010, 06:41:27 UTC

I pretty much agree with you though it has to be said I have a large Student Loan and mostly ignore it - the only impact it has is on my pay packet each month, so it does behave like a tax.

If more people going to university is good for the country then surely it pays for itself in increased tax revenue in later life. If it doesn't then why send so many people - I suspect the answer is in the above comments regarding youth unemployment.

I think that vocational education needs to lose its stigma, and there needs to be acknowledgement that a one size fits all education policy breeds mediocrity. This is wider than just an FE problem.

Re: Tuition Fees vampyrefate June 11 2010, 09:16:47 UTC

the only impact it has is on my pay packet each month, so it does behave like a tax

Except that it's a tax that you wouldn't be paying if you went to university when I did. I also suspect you'd ignore it a lot less if they put a commercial interest rate on it (which has been mooted in some corners http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/nicholas-barr-interest-subsidies-on-student-loans-are-the-root-of-all-evil-1926574.html.

Re: Tuition Fees springmaker June 13 2010, 07:43:57 UTC

I had a job that paid below the threshold for years. I paid it off anyway, although in theory I was below the level where I could afford to. If I hadn't I guess my 3K (30K these days) would have compounded over the 10 years till I got the better job and probably would have been 6K (60K today) when I came to pay it off. If i'd had the 30K debt rather than the 3K debt I'd probably have struggled to pay it off in a meaningful way and would have had a big financial handicap when I eventually fulfilled my graduate potential. I feel this "risk" could have discouraged me from taking the big step to Uni.

Tuition Fees blue_jez June 11 2010, 06:43:03 UTC

cowprintavenger June 11 2010, 08:55:28 UTC

I was speaking to the careers guy at work about increasing tuition fees and he reckons the best bet for young people now is to go to an FE college and take a degree level course because that's vastly cheaper than going to uni (apparently the majority of these courses are accredited by a university). I asked him whether he thought employers would see them in the same light as a degree from a proper university and he ummed and haa-ed for a bit and then said that it was a bit like when the old polytechnics turned into universities - at first people looked down on them but over time this has stopped being so much of an issue.

vampyrefate June 11 2010, 09:08:18 UTC

I heard something about this on the radio. The minister saying that he thought it was a better way to deliver the courses (from FE rather than residential university courses). He said some other things too. I agreed with him the students should be more demanding of their lecturers - as should anyone paying 20K for services. He also played the first bit of real spin too - noting the wages, retirement age and pension arrangements of academics - against the backdrop of student debt.

On the employers' point - having spoken to a few, the good ones value people being bright ... rather than being nice but dim and oxbridge educated.

springmaker June 13 2010, 07:36:14 UTC

Tricky one the Student loans thing. I loved my student days, but did I make the most of my actual course and value it appropriately? Not sure. And I remember seeing others who also didn't get full benefit. Would more folks have made the 9 am lectures in a fit state if they'd been paying 3K a year for the provilege? Maybe ( ... )

vampyrefate June 14 2010, 09:15:25 UTC

I found having to pay for everything, with a commercial rate loan, was an enormous incentive. But, this was after I'd done 3 years of being a student on a grant, and after a long talk by my parents. I know that at 18 it would not have been an incentive at all - I had no idea of the value of money.

I'll come back to your other points when I have a bit more time.

springmaker June 13 2010, 07:45:42 UTC

I wonder is it really a good idea for us to be encouraging this massive increase in personal debt? We've already seen how that has worked for mortgage holders, companies and countries.

vampyrefate June 14 2010, 09:09:43 UTC

This is a very good point. Personally, I tend to avoid borrowing money whenever I can - mostly because I've borrowed a fair bit in the past to get toys and whatnot earlier, and then noticed that my spending power has been reduced for like 5 years. Generally speaking, I think one is better off saving for 5 years, and then buying the toy ( ... )