Columnists

TUITION FEE RISES A JOKE!

By James Cree ⋅ February 25, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Increased tuition fees could cause students to ‘face a lifetime of debt’ with only the most well off being able to afford to attend university. This is the rhetoric we’re used to hearing from the National Union of Students. Not anymore. For the first time a university Vice Chancellor has taken the unprecedented step of warning that this could be the case if tuition fees rise by up to double their current amount in the 2009 review into Higher Education Funding. The thing is, he’s absolutely spot on! This year, students can expect to graduate with a debt of around £15,000. This will rise again next year as the first year affected by top up fees graduate. Let’s look at some simple facts. If tuition fees were to rise again to £6,000 then every student on a 3 year course can expect to graduate with at least £18,000 of debt and this doesn’t even account for accommodation expenses. The government says that top up fees are necessary to fund the Higher Education system yet these are the same politicians who went to university for free. This makes a complete mockery of its ‘Widening access to Education’ agenda. No wonder students of today feel it is grossly unfair.