Some of you may be aware that recently a change in law has been passed to reduce government spending to universities and charge fees to students from 2013. This issue has been causing lots of tension across the UK, with much protesting that has been turning violent.
Current fees are upto ₤3200 depending on parents income. Under the new system fees can be as high as ₤9000 but will only be paid once the student is earning a minimum salary of ₤21 000. Fees will be equal for all.
On one hand you have the government making cuts across the board due to the financial crisis. They say they simply can't afford the current system any longer. You have taxpayers that don't see why they should subsidise the alcohol fuelled lifestyles of students (many city centres become no go zones at night). On the other hand, the worry is that the new law will put off a lot of students and make university education elitist.
As a Sikh and as someone who has used the higher education system, education is something that is very important to me. However, I understand the economic burden of education too so I am interested in others views of this topic, particularly from people in countries where higher education is already privately funded. Here is a short newspaper article from earlier this month about the issue :
In a move that drew new rounds of violent protests by students, British lawmakers on Thursday approved a contentious bill to allow universities in England to increase undergraduate tuition to as much as £9,000 a year—or more than $14,000— from the current rate of £3,290.
With the bill's passage in the House of Commons, by a vote of 323 to 302, the coalition government survived the first significant test of its durability.
The increase, which will take effect for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2012, will transform many English universities into the most expensive public institutions in the world. The average tuition and fees at public four-year institutions in the United States for the last academic year, by contrast, was $7,020. For England, the move marks a radical transformation for a system that did not even charge tuition until 1998.
The £9,000 rate is a cap that the government described as an "absolute limit," intended only to be charged by a handful of universities, with most institutions expected to set their tuition closer to a "basic threshold" of £6,000, or $9,450. But according to a report released by the University and College Union on Wednesday, most universities will have to charge an average tuition of close to £7,000 to maintain current revenue levels in the face of sweeping government cuts.
Students from across the country, many of whom spent the last several weeks protesting the plans with occupations of university buildings and city marches, had descended on London in anticipation of the vote. Authorities had intensified the police presence in and around the Palace of Westminster, where Parliament sits, in hopes of avoiding a repetition of the violence that erupted in the wake of a mass demonstration last month against the proposed fee increase and planned cuts in higher-education financing.
Despite the precautions, clashes between protesters and the police erupted after the vote and continued into the evening. At least 12 officers were injured, six seriously, according to Scotland Yard.
http://chronicle.com/article/British-Lawmakers-Approve/125665/
What do people think about funding for higher education? Should it be the responsibility of the individual or government?
Thank you for your thoughts
Current fees are upto ₤3200 depending on parents income. Under the new system fees can be as high as ₤9000 but will only be paid once the student is earning a minimum salary of ₤21 000. Fees will be equal for all.
On one hand you have the government making cuts across the board due to the financial crisis. They say they simply can't afford the current system any longer. You have taxpayers that don't see why they should subsidise the alcohol fuelled lifestyles of students (many city centres become no go zones at night). On the other hand, the worry is that the new law will put off a lot of students and make university education elitist.
As a Sikh and as someone who has used the higher education system, education is something that is very important to me. However, I understand the economic burden of education too so I am interested in others views of this topic, particularly from people in countries where higher education is already privately funded. Here is a short newspaper article from earlier this month about the issue :
In a move that drew new rounds of violent protests by students, British lawmakers on Thursday approved a contentious bill to allow universities in England to increase undergraduate tuition to as much as £9,000 a year—or more than $14,000— from the current rate of £3,290.
With the bill's passage in the House of Commons, by a vote of 323 to 302, the coalition government survived the first significant test of its durability.
The increase, which will take effect for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2012, will transform many English universities into the most expensive public institutions in the world. The average tuition and fees at public four-year institutions in the United States for the last academic year, by contrast, was $7,020. For England, the move marks a radical transformation for a system that did not even charge tuition until 1998.
The £9,000 rate is a cap that the government described as an "absolute limit," intended only to be charged by a handful of universities, with most institutions expected to set their tuition closer to a "basic threshold" of £6,000, or $9,450. But according to a report released by the University and College Union on Wednesday, most universities will have to charge an average tuition of close to £7,000 to maintain current revenue levels in the face of sweeping government cuts.
Students from across the country, many of whom spent the last several weeks protesting the plans with occupations of university buildings and city marches, had descended on London in anticipation of the vote. Authorities had intensified the police presence in and around the Palace of Westminster, where Parliament sits, in hopes of avoiding a repetition of the violence that erupted in the wake of a mass demonstration last month against the proposed fee increase and planned cuts in higher-education financing.
Despite the precautions, clashes between protesters and the police erupted after the vote and continued into the evening. At least 12 officers were injured, six seriously, according to Scotland Yard.
http://chronicle.com/article/British-Lawmakers-Approve/125665/
What do people think about funding for higher education? Should it be the responsibility of the individual or government?
Thank you for your thoughts
