Uni Fees

[nfe]

Fair enough!  I think it adds to Roos thoughts on the Oxbridge situation too.  I never even considered applying to Oxbridge for similar reasons.

So what job will a guy with your qualifications be doing eventually?  What are you aiming for?

Part of applying was definitely an ego thing. I think I just wanted to say I had offers from the top unis :lol:

Archaeology of the Holy Land and its relationship with the ancient eastern med is my interest, really. I want to work on digs in Jerusalem, primarily.

[Twinfan]

Best of luck with that, it's certainly not your average career!

[nfe]

Best of luck with that, it's certainly not your average career!

Cheers! And indeed not. First days in uni were a laugh. "I want to teach RE", "Cool, I want to dig up Canaanite relics from 600BC...".

[Afghan Dave]

How old are you now nfe?

Have you managed to get any experience in the field you want to go into?

[Roobubba]

He's aiming to be out standing in his field! :)

[nfe]

I'm 28. I've worked on digs in the UK as a volunteer. Hoping to be in Jerusalem on one in the summer finances-permitting.

[JDC]

I thought you were older than me, I think my applying to king's is also an ego thing as where I study does not matter for the occupation it leads to but I would still rather go king's and get the extra debt. Qualifying from there might be good if I do some self employed work on the side which is debatable.

[Alex]

I currently teach at one of the universities that will charge 9000£ from next year on. The whole financial matter and the potential knock-on effects this governmental decision has had is unfortunately highly complex; I could elaborate, but it would take me an hour and then there would still be gaps. Academics have voiced concern and discontent at the fee rise - mind however that most vice-chancellors have been remarkably silent in criticism, sadly - and the government has just about ignored any suggestions.
The new fee regime is ideological; the conservative government wants to move towards a predominantly private higher education sector similar to the US. There will be more mergers and even closures of universities/departments in the UK in this process and a lot of people will be hurt in the sector. Being not British, I view it a bit as an outsider and have to say it is very sad.

As a UK citizen I would be extremely "pissed off" at this government decision. Basically the government has shifted the biggest share of the education price to the citizens, despite them paying taxes with which the system has been built up.

[dave_mc]

^ that's the big problem i have. "oh you'll earn more money so you should pay for it"

er, if i do earn more money as a result of going won't that mean i pay more income tax?

you could argue that the government/treasury should view it as an investment. and if it's not then that might be proof that too many are going (i.e. if you don't stand to make any more from going, there's been degree dilution, and it's unfair to ask people to pay more fees because they actually *don't* stand to gain that much).

as it is it looks like the government would rather you make money from not going to university than make it because you went. if you ask me (the whole, "too many people going" thing notwithstanding) you should be encouraging the populace to get educated, not the opposite.

[Alex]

Oh, they still want everybody to get degrees, just they want a more hierarchical model, with a few very expensive and very prestigious degrees and a lot more "affordable" mass degrees for the general population. The cost of their however is to be shifted to the population in either case.

But seriously, what else would you expect from such a prime minister???

[djl]

^ that's the big problem i have. "oh you'll earn more money so you should pay for it"

er, if i do earn more money as a result of going won't that mean i pay more income tax?

Completely, completely agree. This whole "you go to uni, you earn more" argument is an awful argument on lots of levels, the main one being that if you earn more, you already contribute more in the way of taxes. You're paying twice. The other reason it's bad is because the figures are based on graduates leaving uni some time ago, when only about 10% of the population went to uni. The lifetime extra earnings quoted in the press are a huge overestimate and quite simply are very unlikely to be seen by the majority of today's undergraduates.

[ToneMonkey]

I could certainly do without Student Loans taking over £200 off me a month. But on the bright side, I've only got  another six years or so of payments  :?

[dave_mc]

Oh, they still want everybody to get degrees, just they want a more hierarchical model, with a few very expensive and very prestigious degrees and a lot more "affordable" mass degrees for the general population. The cost of their however is to be shifted to the population in either case.

But seriously, what else would you expect from such a prime minister???

i loathe the tories, but to be fair, labour was the government which brought in fees in the first place (i've heard some things (this was before my time) about the tories laying the groundwork for charging in the 80s and 90s,, but labour certainly didn't stop it, either).

Completely, completely agree. This whole "you go to uni, you earn more" argument is an awful argument on lots of levels, the main one being that if you earn more, you already contribute more in the way of taxes. You're paying twice. The other reason it's bad is because the figures are based on graduates leaving uni some time ago, when only about 10% of the population went to uni. The lifetime extra earnings quoted in the press are a huge overestimate and quite simply are very unlikely to be seen by the majority of today's undergraduates.

yep, exactly- it's based on figures from before the recession, and it's based on figures from when there actually was a reasonable graduate premium. Also, the fact that they take an average over all degrees is also ridiculous- average is a pretty blunt instrument at the best of times, let alone when you're using it across vastly dissimilar figures.