University Tutition Fees

richandgem

richandgem

Platinum Member
Ok, this subject can get a little heated but here goes.

Is it just me or does anyone else think its a joke that the tax payer is expected to pay for this? I left college at 16 with 5 GCSE's. went straight into work, worked flipping hard and picked up the profession that i'm now in. Last year I started a degree in engineering through the OU which I am having to fund to the sum of several thousand.

Now I dont begrudge people going to university nor do I have a chip on my shoulder because I didn't get one after my GCSE's, I just hated school and wanted to start working.

There is no way the government would fund any part of my degree, and I wouldnt't expect them to, so why should I, as a tax payer fund everyone elses? Especially these days when people just seem to go to uni for the sake of it and doss about for the first year.

Or am I being a complete s*** lol :wink:
 
I agree with you, a student going to uni should pay for their education. There is no reason people like yourself should be paying for someone else's education.

However, at the same time I guess the government supporting students is classed as investing in the countries future. That obviously depends on the course and I'd suggest a large proportion of graduates don't bring anything good to the country due to the number of worthless courses. I'm thinking along the lines of a lot of media courses etc.

Also, I've been through a 4 year uni course which has cost me about £11,500 in fees. If I was leaving 6th form now I'd be very reluctant to go to uni at £9k per year, meaning it would have cost me £30k in fees. If the government want lots of educated people to keep the country on it's feet then they do need to try and encourage people into university education.
 
Totally agree with you.

Annoys me soooo much.

But not nearly as much as those little gimps at college that get £30 a week "pocket money" to spend on what they want - the EMA!!!
 
Mike said:
Totally agree with you.

Annoys me soooo much.

But not nearly as much as those little gimps at college that get £30 a week "pocket money" to spend on what they want - the EMA!!!
Click to expand...

Thats being stopped, Gem used to have to teach people that got that, made my blood boil. Especially when she used to get parents ringing her up going mad when their child hadn't got it that week, if you were late to a lesson u lost it for the week. And Gem doesn't compromise lol
 
I do not understand the reason why students and future students are protesting so much about the £9k a year fees (only £9k for the minority of courses)...

They are raising the repayment threshold to £21k a year..That means most will NEVER pay it back anyway.

I graduated in June and I need to average about £40k a year to pay off my student loan in full before it is wiped clean in 25 years time.

On my current salary I have to pay off £2 a week to the student loans company, the interest is building up quicker than that! So in 25 years time I will still owe thousands but they will wipe it clean. At the moment you pay back 9% of what you earn over £15k a year. So if you earn £16k a year you pay back £90 a year

Only way it will cost £9k a year to the student is if they decide to pay the fees up front or if you manage to land an epic paid job on graduation which not many will do.
 
I think people SHOULD be made to pay for their further education!

Right enough i liked the fact i didn't have to pay for my HND Graphic Communication. But that was because i was keen to get working once i was finished.

I hate when im speaking to people that get 'Bursary' every month and blow it on ****, EMA's AND get their tuition fees paid but turn round and tell me that they were doing cooking but dropped out because they didn't like it, now they are going back to do beauty but might do IT after!!!

Its either one or the other! If they had to pay their own fees (In Scotland) it would change their minds quickly!!
 
I think people should pay to go to uni, but it does seem a little unfair that people starting uni next year have to pay much more than those starting this year. Also, the EMA thing used to get to me. A girl I was in sixth form with got EMA because her parents were divorced. Her mom is loaded and her dad owns a number of businesses throughout Milasia and a few in America. But because my parents were still together, I didn't. It's like punishing those who have a traditional family life. Another friend of mine got EMA because his dad owned his own business and couldn'd prove his income. But he was also loaded. So I don't agree with that. They sometimes had bonuses of £100 a month if they didn't have any absenses. I had to get a part time job.

This hole country is going down the pan because of this government. They are introducing far too many cost cutting measures and giving too much money to the EU and other countries.
 
EMA is calculated on your parents income, and the student fees you get for going to Uni you have to pay back so its not like they are getting a free education, but I agree anyway it all should be stopped, EMA and grants.

You just get the people who don't care about what job they do and mess around making it hard for others to learn, plus we are at a point now where every young person has a degree but no jobs for them to go into so they end up working in Halfords or the likes, such a wast.

But I would not worry to much about it, the UK is going to collapse along with allot of other countries so paying for your own education will be the last thing on your mind :wink:
 
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I'm in two minds about this. I think fees are a fact of life these days, purely to support the numbers that now go to university. But we need to make sure there is parity in the UK alone!

That said, even though my politics are more in alignment with the Conservatives, I'm not a fan of the way students are paying these fees back. If you and I take a loan out, we expect to pay what we owe plus the interest for having the money. With the student loans they will be paying well above this, plus, if they have better jobs thanks to a good education, they will be paying more as well!

But Labour got us in such a mess (how anyone could vote for them...) that these things have to happen. But you know what? I'd be able to stomach it if we could get rid of all those quangos, the unneeded council officers (diversity, climate change, etc, etc) and the 100's of NHS managers we don't need first.

Especially as I'm looking at no or limited pay increase this year, moving into the 40% bracket (due to the reduction) and the 1% increase on NI.
 
Scotland have their heads screwed on.

Care for the elderly and students have to pay their way!

Win!

LOL @ Matt197 - it's all about moving to Australia now!
 
i think degrees have devalued somewhat because of the amount of people having them.

I would've rather gone straight to work, but got stuck at a point where things I wanted to do needed a degree before they would even give you the application form.

With this increase in fees I think over time companies will find they are still not getting the right caliber of person (instead just well-off, but thick). they will then start to offer apprentiships more etc.

As for the government claiming that graduates earn xxx more than a non graduate over a lifetime which more than pays for the degree cost, remember these numbers are only based on official numbers. (i.e. tax paid)

I don't think i've ever met a tradesman for example who isn't willing to do a bit of cash in hand at the weekend.
 
I'm not going to quote my salary, but my old neighbour went to Uni and did some degree in Nerdness or something. He left there 7 years ago, and still has a secretary type job on £16k a year, a shade over HALF what I am getting, and I have no Uni qualifications, and I didn't waste 3 years of my life getting drunk every night!

When I went for the Pilot's job, all you needed was 3 A-Levels and 5 GCSE - that is a very respected job, and you need nothing. Mind you, the starting salary was £18k, and you still have to pay £1k a month back to the airline for training costs for 7 years.

Needless to say, when I lost half the sight in my left eye, I wasn't too gutted that I couldn't become a pilot lol!
 
Mike said:
Scotland have their heads screwed on.

Care for the elderly and students have to pay their way!

Win!
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Agreed on care for the elderly, but the students get their fees paid for them (after applying).

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I thought this might be an interesting insight into EMA. Birmingham has the most claiments in the country! Adding all those claiments together equals £17.5M in state money going out each week!

EMA2.gif

Apologies for the size - hope it's readable!
 
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