Live Q+A: University tuition fees – Thursday 26 May – 1-3pm
Tuesday 24th May 2011, 8:00AM BST.
This discussion has now finished. Scroll down to the comments section to follow the debate as it happened.
The new university fees are said to be putting off A-Level students from moving on to further education, with many charging students the maximum annual tuition of £9,000 – three times more than students currently pay.
So can you afford to go to university now? And will your course be worth the money that you pay for it?
If you’re unsure about the new fees and how they’ll affect your prospects of further education then help is at hand in our live Q+A on tuition fees and universities where our team of experts from Harper Adams University College will answer all of your questions.
You can also quiz our panel on all aspects of student finance and how to find out if you are eligible and apply for financial support during your studies.
Our panel includes:
Claire Southgate, Admissions Officer
Claire advises applicants on the courses Harper Adams offer, how to apply and the entry requirements. She also gives advice on the Financial Support packages available to fund university and the scholarships offered at Harper Adams.
Jane Batchelor, Schools and Colleges Liaison Officer
Jane meets young people throughout the UK, and advises them on the university admissions process, making the right choice of course, and what else university can offer.
Jane’s remit also includes widening participating: helping to make university an option for groups of people traditionally under-represented in higher education.
Laura Harper, Head of Admissions and Student Records
Laura oversees the entire process through which students join university courses, from application to interview to registration as a Fresher.
This discussion has now finished. Follow the debate as it happened and see all of the questions and answers about tuition fees and student finance in the comments section below:
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A question from Dave in our earlier piece. He asks:
“Will the £21K threshold for repayment be indexed linked in to the future?”
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Hi Dave (and Todd)
The £21,000 repayment threshold for loans will be applicable for all students who repay loans which are taken out from September 2012 onwards. At the moment the government has not stated when this threshold is likely to be reviewed.
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The increased tuition fees are said to be putting off young people who might wish to go to university from 2012 onwards. What would you say to people who are now having second thoughts?
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I’ve got a question for everyone. I am nearly half way through my A-levels and will be looking to go to university next year. My parents both work but earn less than £60,000 combined but we own our own house, car, etc. My dad went to university but my mum didn’t so she doesn’t see the point in it. They are both worried about me taking on tens of thousands in debt when I am not even out of my teens. I get OK results at school but I don’t want to be a lawyer or an accountant so why should I go to university and stitch myself up financially for life?
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Hi Jamie,
This is a really good question and one all students should be asking themselves. The decision to go onto higher education is for you to make with guidance from your parents & tutors but ultimately it is your decision. With more and higher qualifications you will increase your chances of getting a better paid and more interesting job. It is proven that graduates tend to earn more money in their life time, have better standard of health and job satisfaction than non-graduates. My advice to you would be take some time, consider what interests you, what skills you have and then make an informed decision as to whether higher education is the right option for you and will get you to where you want to go. I didn’t go to university until I was 27 having worked since I left school at 16. It was the right decision for me and not one I regret having now got a job I enjoy, earning enough to have the lifestyle I always wanted.
The loans available do have to be repaid but in a way that is manageable to what income you are earning. So if a graduate gains a job earning £25,000 the repayments will be £30.00 a month only increasing as your salary increases.
What I would suggest is when doing your research, ask the the universities you are looking at what their graduate employment is like and where / what do their graduates do. Going to university will give a longer time to think about your future career and the direction you wish to go. Remember only 40% of the graduate jobs advertised ask for a particular degree.
I hope this helps,
Jane
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All very good points raised by Jane.
I would also just like to look at this from a different angle. Having been a student myself as a teenager, I have to say look at the other things that university life can offer you. You get the chance to live away from home and be independent, learn how to interact with new people and make new friends, get to see what life is like outside of your home town (whether it be by moving away or by learning from new people you meet), learn how to cook (maybe!!)
In all, there are plenty of other skills that university life can teach you as well as helping you embark on your chosen career.
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I agree with some of Claire’s points the other things that university life can offer – I too was at university as a teenager and can honestly say that it was the best time of my life.
The ‘learning to cook’ point made me laugh as it was true for me. My university friends still take the mick about how I managed to burn pasta when I tried to cook my first meal!
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Hello,
My questions to the panel are:
How does the new pricing of tuition fees affect postgraduate courses (MSc, PhD)?
As a 2010 BSc (Hons) Psychology graduate, with a £16.500 dept I feel reluctant and financially unequipped to further invest in academic training.
Undergraduate degrees are deemed insufficient for most career options, employers favoring candidates with postgraduate training for even entry level positions. This perpetuates the need to continuously invest in higher education and training to satisfy employer’s criteria.
How are universities working towards promoting the skills and professional ability of graduates (after conpleting an undergraduate course)?
From my experience, universities make a minimal investment for a substantial return.
For example: lecturers use the same content and even same materials – PowerPoint presentations design – every year.
In addition, the assignment titles remain the same through consecutive academic years, further minimizing the effort invested by university staff.
How do we explain the exorbitant price tag for independent studies when student support and staff involvement is so low?
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Dear Ioana
Most universities are currently considering their fee levels for postgraduate courses in 2012/13 and you should expect to see these published later this summer.
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Hi Laura,
Thank you for your reply.
As students enrolling in 2012 will graduate with a debt of over £27,000, how likely is it that they will take on any further postgraduate studies, taking into consideration most of these courses are self-funded?
As it is obvious, undergraduate degrees do not significantly contribute to ones employment success, many undergraduates continue to work in positions that do not require a degree.
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Hi Ioana
As with all higher education choices, it will be the decision of each individual student as to whether they continue their studies to a postgraduate level. Obviously for some occupations this is a must and others not so.
We will obviously not see if the increased tuition fees affect this until we get nearer to that point.
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If I go to university this year and pay the normal amount of tuition fees, does it go up the £9000 amount next year or stay as it is for the whole 3 years?
Thanks
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Hi James
If you start university in September 2011 and pay fees of £3,375, you will continue to pay this rate (plus any inflationary rises) for the duration of your course.
You would only pay the £9,000 fees if you embarked on a new course after starting your original course in 2011.
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Hello and welcome to this live discussion on tuition fees and student finance on shropshirestar.com.
Our three experts from Harper Adams have kindly agreed to take part in this Q+A today. Claire, Jane and Laura – could we start the debate by just asking you to give us a little more background on yourselves and what you do at Harper Adams?
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Hi
Claire Southgate – I am the Admissions Officer at Harper Adams. I offer advice and guidance at both the course and admissions processes at Harper as well as on Government Student Support packages and the scholarships we offer at Harper Adams.
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Hi, I am the Head of Admissions and Student Records here at Harper Adams University College. I oversee all the admissions functions in the University College, ranging from the receipt of applications, to the organisation of interview sessions, the making of offers and the welcoming of new students as Freshers. This also includes giving advice to applicants and students on a range of issues, including student finance. I also deal with the monitoring of student records of all students during their time here.
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Hello all,
I am Jane Batchelor, the Schools & Colleges Laision officer at Harper Adams. My role includes providing talks to schools & colleges for their students and parents about all aspects of higher education as well as partucluar focs on Harper Adams. I left school at 16 after not engaging in school, after a number of years employed in a wide variety of jobs, I made the decision to go to university aged 27. I then contuned with my education gaining professional qualifications in education and a careers guidance. My current role also has me engaged in working with under represted groups about rasing their aspirations and enabling them to make informed choices about HE.
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A question from our sister discussion on expressandstar.com yesterday which got missed out. I wonder if today’s panel have any thoughts?
“I have two children one of whom wants to study medicine while the other is keen to be a vet. BY my reckoning that’s at least a combined 12 years of university education which would set them (and me!) back £108,000.
When you get to that level of cost it seems to make more sense to actually move to Scotland. Does the panel have any thoughts?”
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In my opinion when you are talkinag about embarking on a career as a doctor or vet then University is the biggest investment you will ever make. These careers are unachievable with out education study. I believe that in this instance you get what you pay for.
Does it make sense to move to Scotland?
I should highlight that to be classed as a Scottish student, you need to have lived in Scotland for at least three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of your course. Alternatively, you could be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the first day of the first academic year of your course. This means that you have moved to Scotland for a reason other than to study here, for example moving with parents who have re-located for work.
Is this really a feasible option?
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With the large increase in fees for 2012, are you expecting a rush of people applying to university this year?
And if you are successful with your application this year, but defer your place until 2012, do you have to pay the higher fees?
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Hi Todd,
Yes, we have seen an increase in the amount of applications for 2011 entry, but applications have been steadliy increasing for the last few years. There are obviously those who may have been planning to take a gap year but have decided not to, to avoid the higher fees.
Those applicants who defer their place to 2012 will be subject to the higher fees, as the fees are dependant on the year you start your course, not the year you applied for it.
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Do higher fees mean that the class sizes will be smaller? More lecture hours? And better resources etc?
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These are all good questions that should be asked of the individual institutions you might be looking at.
The Governmental changes to the funding for universities means the full cost of going to university is now being paid by the student rather the a proportional cost and the majority coming from central government revenue gained by tax payers. The increase in the fees from £6,000 to £9,000 per students is now the only revenue the university will get for funding teaching, hence bringing market forces into higher education – those that offer good quality provision will continue to be successful. The decision to charge the rates set by each individual institution will have been much debated over to ensure that they can maintain & hoping to increase the quality of their provision.
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Harper Adams specialise in Agriculture and have decided to charge the full £9000 fee. Using current trends as guidance, are there enough graduate level jobs in agriculture and do they attract a good enough premium to justify paying this fee back at 9% over £21000 after graduation?
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All universities have to undertake a destination survey of their graduates to establish where they are after 6 months after graduation. Currently the data published for Harper Adams 08-09 graduates, we are currently waiting last year’s survey to be completed, our graduate employment rate is 96%. The Government estimate there will be required, over the next 20 years, between 30 – 60,000 graduates for the food production sector. If you would like to take a look at the Harper Adams careers web site, we have a number of employers posting current vacancy’s for our graduates.
A career in agriculture requires a good science, business and technological knowledge, employers are prepared to pay the price to gain the very best of these graduates
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Can you give us a bit more detail about the nationwide increase in tuition fees? As I understand it, it is because the government wants to transfer the cost of further education from the state onto the student.
So is the £9,000 tuition fee limit representative of how much it costs to run the course, including all of the resources available etc? Or is it still being subsidised by the state even with the increased fees?
I assume some courses cost more to run than others?
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To date, the costs of higher education have been paid by a combination of student fees and a grant which the government provides to universities.
The level of government grant has been dependant on the type of subjects which a university offers. So, for example, a university offering science and engineering courses would receive more government grant that a university offering classroom based courses such as business, law and social sciences.
The government has asked for a review to be undertaken to establish which subjects will continue to receive grant funding from 2012/13. Until that review is complete, universities can only be certain as to the fee income they will receive from students.
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Todd I think you have underestimated the costs, to study medicine alone would be about £90,000.
There are already far too many vet graduates desperate to find work experience.
There are other alternatives to progress in medicine which may take longer but be less expensive. For example those qualified in other areas of health can progress on to become doctors.
It is totally unacceptable in my view that in Wales, Ireland and Scotland young people are being treated more fairly than English students.
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Hi Eva,
I agree with your point.
Oftentimes in the promotional aspect, universities come up with statistics to indicate higher education brings exponential material and psychological benefits.
However, most of these studies reflect the past generations as these findings are not relevant to what is currently happening to the “conveyor belt” educational system and recent graduates.
Finding a graduate job is practically impossible, so after having invested substantial finance, we have gained (almost) nothing.
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Could the panel give a little bit more information about how student loans work for those who don’t know.
When do you start paying it back, for example. And roughly how what percentage of your wages will be taken out for it?
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You can apply to the governemt for a loan to cover the full cost of tuition fees.
You can apply for a loan to help cover the costs of accommodation and living and you can apply for a grant (which you do not need to pay back) to help with living costs if your household income is below £45,000.
You do not have to start repaying the loan until after you have graduated and are earning more than £21,000 a year. At this point you will repay 9% of your salary over this amount. so for example a salary of £25,000 you would pay 9% of £4,000 which equals £30 a month.
Interest will be charged on these loans on a scale between inflation and inflation plus 3%.
In 2012/3 Harper Adams will
will be participating in the new National Scholarship Programme for 2012 entrants. Watch our web pages for more information.
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On the sister discussion on expressandstar.com yesterday, somebody asked whether it was possible to pay tuition fees for their children up-front in one go, rather than using payment systems. Is this something generally offered by most universities?
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Currently student can choose to pay for their fees up-front in a lump sum each year before they embark on their studies. As the student finance system is till to get full governmental approval, it is not yet confirmed if students from 2012 can pay fees upfront WITHOUT also paying a premium to do this.
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We had a few questions yesterday about going abroad to study or going through the Open University rather than traditional university for further education.
What do the panel think about these as options for young people today and how would the experience differ/what could students potentially miss out on?
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If a UK student choose to study within the European Union, they will be charge (or not) the same fees as that countries home students. If choosing to study outside the EU, the UK student would be classed as an international student and pay the fees that country / institution charges for international students.
When considering studying abroad I would recommend careful examination of the way the course is taught, is it in English or the native language, would the student feel comfortable and happy about being that far away from home taking into consideration the cost of traveling home may make it more expensive option and the cultural difference of living overseas.
The Open University & courses studied abroad offer a different experience for students and one that needs careful consideration for the individual.
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Taking into account the current level of fees and length of courses, many young people will probably be put off doing a degree by the idea of getting into a lot of debt at a young age with no guarantee of a job at the end of it. Are Harper Adams looking at redesigning their courses and degrees so that more students can study part-time alongside working, which may attract more applicants from those already working who wish to improve their career prospects?
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We are currently reviewing ways in which we could make our programmes more accessible to part time students. At the same time, we are also considering introducing a range of new programmes which students could complete in one or two years and still gain a qualification at sub degree level.
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It is now 3pm and this discussion has now finished
It’s been a very interesting debate today and I’d just like to take the opportunity to thank Jane, Claire and Laura for taking part today and sharing some very useful advice with us.
For more news on schools and universities, visit our Education section.
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[On the sister discussion on expressandstar.com yesterday, somebody asked whether it was possible to pay tuition fees for their children up-front in one go, rather than using payment systems. Is this something generally offered by most universities?]
This is what has been happening since the old grant system was removed and the government has relied upon many parents using their increased equity to help their children out, or money they made out of property in the many years of a rising market.
This bubble has burst and will not much longer be providing that option as well as parents belatedly realising that they need to keep assets for hip and knee replacements and their own care in their old age.
Not only are there not necessarily the well paid jobs there when qualified but it is not very easy to find work whilst studying so when you add on living costs to the £27,000 tuition fees the debt is terrifying for a young person, particularly from England.
We already have highly qualified shelf,debt- laden stackers in every supermarket who I imagine will be reluctant to embark on the concept ever raising a family either.
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