Welcome to the new blog. I am hoping to write every day about something in the news. I may not always succeed but it is my aim for the next year. I may also write about running from time to time. Today’s topic: university fees.
David Willetts, the government Universities Minister, has hinted at raising university fees for students in the UK. Currently the maximum fee per year is £3,225. Mr Willetts has claimed that the current system is “unsustainable” and more suited “for the good times.” He also alleges that the system is not serving students effectively in that it “doesn’t contain strong incentives for universities to focus on teaching and the student experience, as opposed to research.”
Currently UK students apply for loans to cover tuition fees and living costs from the government-funded body the Student Loans Company. They pay back their loans once they have graduated and are earning more than £15,000. He has stated that students should see their repayment of fees as a “higher income tax” rather than a debt.
Mr Willetts indicated that the government wished to see more universities adopt a similar model to that of the London University. They have more than 45,000 students across the world studying through distance learning and 6,000 doing so within the UK. The government wants students to be able to pursue a degree at one university but attend the requisite lectures at a local college. It is alleged that this would allow students unable to afford to move away from home the ability to pursue a higher degree.
I have three comments/questions.
Firstly, I don’t think students will ever be able to think of repayments as an ‘income tax’ rather than a debt. I agree with the National Union of Students president-elect, Aaron Porter, who said graduates were leaving with around £22,000 to repay and that this felt “very much like debt to them”. Just because it comes out of your pay cheque through the tax system does not mean it is anything other than a repayment and asking students to consider it a tax doesn’t solve any problems. “A rose by any other name” springs to mind here.
Second, I would very much like to know how the current system doesn’t give universities incentives to focus on teaching as opposed to research. I don’t have an argument or answer to this; it’s a question. How does the current system lead to universities not providing adequate teaching? I don’t see the correlation between the ability to get and repay a tuition fee loan and sub-par teaching standards.
Thirdly, even if students are able to pursue a degree through distance learning, they will still need to fund their course somehow. Granted they may not need living cost loans but it seems to me that, while I think this is an excellent way to learn and agree it is the way forward, they will still potentially need to apply for tuition fees; therefore, where are the potential savings? Perhaps this is just an indication of how the government would like to see universities adapt and it isn’t linked to the funding of education. If it is, however, then my previous question of how the two are linked also applies.
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