The Proposed Increase To Student Fees

There were some people on campus today protesting against the government proposal to raise the top up fees that students have to pay. At the moment most students have to pay around £3000 a year for their course whilst the government pays the rest, this £3000 is also loaned to the student until after they finish their degree and are earning £15,000+ a year. The proposal is to raise the top up fee to around £6000 (I think).

Now, understandably there is some debate about this, but some of you may be surprised to hear that I, a student, have absolutely no problem with this at all. The increase in top up fees will only lessen the burden on the government to pay for our tuition - the university gains nothing from it. The government will still loan the required money to students so if they want the education badly enough, and think it will be a worthwhile investment, the option will be available for them.

I see no reason for the general public to have to pay for someone else's education past the point of college and those that want it badly enough will take on the extra debt. There are far too many people taking Mickey Mouse subjects at University just so they can have an easy three years on other people's money. I think the point most people don't realise about the top up fees is that the money isloaned to you so any financial loss doesn't occur until you're starting your job.

After my course is finished I'll be in around £24,000 of debt: four years of £3000 tuition and four years of £3000 maintenance loan. Does this bother me? Not at all: I'm paying for a service that I want and this money was a factor in making my choice to study at university. With the increase to fees I would be in £36,000 of debt but I still think this is a small price to pay considering the money I'm likely to earn after the course compared to the amount I would be earning had I have gone straight in to employment. I'm also doing something I enjoy, am interested in and feel I could make a contribution to and for me, the amount of money is justifiable.

I'm interested to see if there are any other student's with the same view as me. The norm is for students to complain, as they were doing today, but is there actually any good reason why the fees should not be raised?

It's a pathetic idea by a tax thirsty set of idiots. You honestly think Students should be coming away from University with up to £24,000 of debt on top of their student loan? That's potentially over £40K of debt. it's madness! I can't even afford pay back my student loan and my tution fees were £1100 a year!

With the interests on student loans as it is, the pupil would have to earn over 70K just to pay off the interest on the loan.

Bad idea. Very bad.

Nah. I want my history degree very badly, but being realistic I'm at most going to get a 2:1 (far more likely 2:2) and I'm going to get a gooseberry fool job (if any) afterwards. By the time I've finished paying off my existing loan I'll be 60.

And I'm paying tuition fees out of my own pocket this year too.

John Galt wrote:With the increase to fees I would be in £36,000 of debt but I still think this is a small price to pay considering the money I'm likely to earn after the course compared to the amount I would be earning had I have gone straight in to employment.

LOLZ. Just you wait. Unless your degree is highly specialised, you'll more than likely be swimming in the same pond as the rest of the fish. And if that specialism is something Science-based... oh dear. You'll have to move abroad to get any real money.

The amount of graduates who leave uni with unrealistic salary expectations (mostly based, to be fair, on the propaganda they've been fed throughout their school/uni years) is more than a little sad.

My fiancee has had to dash the hopes of so many graduates:
"I'm not taking anything under £22k! Definitely not, I've got a degree."
"Er... the market rate for the job you're going for is £16k."
"But they told me..."
"Sorry!"

Good luck in paying off your interest-tastic loan of £36k. Even if you do earn more than someone without a degree, unless you're really lucky (or really good - which is something a non-degreed-up person could be as well) you'll barely be breaking even in 20 years! And in a crowded job market, you'll be up against many people of your age with a lot more experience than you!

What's your degree, fella? I might cringe less at your post if it's the right answer, as there are exceptions!

You do know that the loans are also government funded, right? The Students Loan Company is public sector so whether you take out a loan or not, the fact is that it is entirely the government's cash.

Raising the fee by almost or just over 100% will help no-one.

Don't these debts get written off after a few years anyway?

Alvin Flummux wrote:Don't these debts get written off after a few years anyway?

When you retire

Alvin Flummux wrote:Don't these debts get written off after a few years anyway?

20, I believe. Though I think it's been proposed that if these increases come in, it'll be upped to 30.

Alvin Flummux wrote:Don't these debts get written off after a few years anyway?

I don't know what it is now, but it used to be that if you got to 40 years old without earning the requisite amount to start paying it back, it was written off. But that was when the amount you had to earn was about £20k, rather than £15k... so I don't know what the case is now.

The beginning of the end was when the loans were shipped off to a private company and interest started to be added. The Student Loans Company is now about as public sector as BT, in reality.

John Stait wrote:I think the point most people don't realise about the top up fees is that the money isloaned to you so any financial loss doesn't occur until you're starting your job.

Everyone realises that, fella. It doesn't change the fact that the system discourages less well-off families from entry, as it's a helluvalot of debt to saddle yourself with.

Eighthours wrote:

Alvin Flummux wrote:Don't these debts get written off after a few years anyway?

I don't know what it is now, but it used to be that if you got to 40 years old without earning the requisite amount to start paying it back, it was written off. But that was when the amount you had to earn was about £20k, rather than £15k... so I don't know what the case is now.

The beginning of the end was when the loans were shipped off to a private company and interest started to be added. The Student Loans Company is now about as public sector as BT, in reality.

How paying back student loans works:

You pay back 9% of however much is over the £15,000 threshold, so if you earn £16,000 you will only pay back 9% of £1,000.
Disability benefits are not counted as income.
Declaring bankruptcy no longer wipes your student debt as it once could.
The money will be deducted from your pay and appear on your pay slip, much like Tax which has led it to be referred to as Graduate Tax.
If you are self-employed, then you must inform the Student Loans Company and arrange to pay it differently.
Repayments stop automatically if your earnings fall below the threshold.
Loans are written off if:

You reach 65 and it was taken out before September 2006.
After 25 years if it was taken out in September 2006 or later.
If you have a disability and are declared permanently unfit to work.

Alvin Flummux wrote:Don't these debts get written off after a few years anyway?

25 years. But I know that if I manage to get something that pays well, I'll be endeavouring to clear as much of the debt off as possible with extra repayments.

Nothing worse than having a lingering debt sitting over your head.

Hmm, will this make less people go to University? If so, I think it's a good idea the country is becoming over populated with graduates, so much so that degrees just aren't worth anything, people with good degrees are working as sales assistants or in call centres which require no qualifications.

Student loans are like a tax really, they seep out of your pay packet without you noticing, and it's highly likely you'll be paying it until retirement, it's best not to think of it as debt, just a bit of extra tax for those years you spent at uni living the high life.

This is stupid, its bad enough that they steathed the double interest on loan repayments. If I had to contemplate being in the amount of debt that the average student gets into these days, then I would never have gone to University. Leaving with a good wage is a joke, you need to be lucky enough to have a good degree that doesn't have too much competiton for jobs. Even then the wages will leave you struggling to do anything in the UK without living on the cheap.

What makes me laugh is all the MP sat in Parliament (well the ones that bother to turn up) with their degrees deciding to lumber future generations with such large debts. Because how much did they have to pay for theirs? Oh that’s right they got theirs for free!

And didn’t Labour want 50% of kids going to Uni? Lol!

I didn’t go to University and so have a student debt of £0. But I wouldn’t stand in the way of kids wanting to better themselves and get decent educations.

After all the soap dodging parasites on society that I pay for now will be the doctors that transplant my alcohol ravaged liver in 20 years times. Or the lawyers that get me enormous compensation because I was too weak willed to stop eating Big Macs. Or the bus driver (with a media degree) driving me around for free when I am a pensioner (assuming the doctors don’t botch my liver transplant!).

If you don’t agree with free Uni education than that is fair enough. But please don’t let us hear you moaning in a few years time that there don’t appear to be any British engineers, doctors or scientists anymore.

True dat. A few of my friends are doing Law and Medicine and should be earning good money after uni, albeit in ridiculously competitive fields. I'm doing Animal Science, which is about as competitive except you'll be earning £20k on manager's salary (which I don't want) and £13k basic. Best case scenario for me is £30k a year when I'm about 50. Hooray.

Shadow wrote:Hmm, will this make less people go to University? If so, I think it's a good idea the country is becoming over populated with graduates, so much so that degrees just aren't worth anything, people with good degrees are working as sales assistants or in call centres which require no qualifications.

Yes there are too many crap degrees, crap universities (which were once perfectly good polytechnics) and crap students.

My idea would be an 18+ spelling test. If you can't spell, then you aren't allowed into higher education.

Moggy wrote:Or the bus driver (with a media degree) driving me around for free when I am a pensioner

Does anyone know anybody with a media degree who managed to get a job in a media industry?

Shadow wrote:

Moggy wrote:Or the bus driver (with a media degree) driving me around for free when I am a pensioner

Does anyone know anybody with a media degree who managed to get a job in a media industry?

I think my sister knows one, she researches the questions for The Weakest Link last time I heard...

Dowbocop wrote:

Shadow wrote:

Moggy wrote:Or the bus driver (with a media degree) driving me around for free when I am a pensioner

Does anyone know anybody with a media degree who managed to get a job in a media industry?

I think my sister knows one, she researches the questions for The Weakest Link last time I heard...

Wow....

On a side note, anyone with Comp Sci degree managed to get a job in the UK

HrC wrote:

Dowbocop wrote:

Shadow wrote:

Moggy wrote:Or the bus driver (with a media degree) driving me around for free when I am a pensioner

Does anyone know anybody with a media degree who managed to get a job in a media industry?

I think my sister knows one, she researches the questions for The Weakest Link last time I heard...

Wow....

On a side note, anyone with Comp Sci degree managed to get a job in the UK

My house mate has a Comp Sci degree he works as a analyst for a computer company based in Guildford I think, but it seems all of the dev work is done in Russia.

I have two friends who work in the film industry after completing media (well film studies degrees) although one is in distribution and marketing the other does sound work. Oddly a girl I went to college with who went to work in a radio station and never went to uni now has a high paying job in ITV.