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Should EU Universities Expect New Waves of British Students?
£9,000 per academic year – worth a degree certificate?
At the announcement of A-level results on Thursday 18th August this year, the UK media focused on the regret of parents who had never gone to university, but are students turning their backs on UK universities? Interestingly, no voice was given to recent graduates and their views on the worth of a degree, as a means of encouraging A-level students. Could this be because many graduates now feel that the three years’ education wasn’t worth the extortionate fees? Given the chance again, many would steer clear of that route, arguing that actual teaching time is limited and many terms begin in October only to finish in May, often with as little as two hours a week tutor-student time.
There has been a manic rush for placements over the recent months and few students are expected to take a gap year after finishing school this summer. UCAS has reported a 37% reduction in deferrals or gap years for the next academic year. The reason being that fees will rise from £3,000 to £9,000 per year from academic year 2012. 600,000 students applied for the 400,000 places this year, which is the highest number yet, leaving 200,000 disappointed but, according to UCAS, figures will fall next year, with only an alarming 39% of students saying they intend to apply.
The government pushed to reach national figures of 50% university attendance but this, we can only suppose, is a lost cause in light of their increased costs. The relatively small increase in costs four years ago came as a shock to students and their families were almost reasonable. However, next year’s fees have almost tripled.
Many UK universities turn away students from the hometown, lending to students having to go away to study. Whilst, in the past, this led to an exciting breakaway from home, it now means that they are forced to pay for accommodation in another city as well as their living expenses, which is not such an attractive prospect. Landlords make a small fortune from renting out student houses and young people are left with no choice except to pay through the roof. NUS (National Union of Students) reports that accommodation costs have risen by 22% in the last three years. Whilst terms often only run for eight months of the year, landlords request a twelve-month rent contract. Loans of up to £7,675 are given to students for their living expenditure but this all adds up to a considerable amount of debt. Most extra-curricular activities within universities charge money, with sports centres charging hundreds of pounds per term. Banks are profiting substantially from loans, which were initially marketed as interest-free. An unpaid loan gathers interest for the new graduate at a rate of 5.3%, meaning that students who cannot afford to repay the loan straight away struggle even more. Whilst average graduate debts hovered at 26,000 last year, they are expected to more than double in the next two years. Students seem to be the new money-making scheme and, with many remaining broke and unemployed after their degrees, anger and resentment are brooding, and riots broke out after the announcement earlier this year, with windows in the Treasury building being smashed.
An innate snobbery in the UK leads to students often being labeled with a bad press, even if the majority are diligent young people. One reporter referred to A-level students as being ‘children’, hardly a favourable term to eighteen year olds, and one that only serves to further the gap between generations. Meanwhile the increased fees suggest that mainly students from wealthier backgrounds will choose to continue their studies and the elitist divide will grow when, over the last decade, it had showed hope of receding. Those who will suffer most are said to be the middle classes on low incomes. The pursuit of places in higher-ranking universities in the UK means that students follow the league tables, often aiming for the costlier options.
Thirty years ago, students paid as little as £50 to attend university, and a degree almost certainly led to better employment chances. Nowadays graduates remain unemployed months after finishing university and are beginning to wonder whether £30,000 of debt was worth the degree certificate.
There has been recent alarm in the Scottish government, as couples in England are looking to move to Scotland so that their children may be entitled to a free university education under the Scottish government. In light of the fact that Scottish universities are still free for Scottish students, and that European universities charge under €500 per year, is it any wonder that students are considering studying abroad.
With many jobs requesting bilingualism, studying in a European country would appear beneficial. Erasmus terms or years abroad are frequently a success, and the idea of a three to four year study period in addition to a cultural experience and an acquired language appears preferable, drawn up against the dire prospect of further study in the UK.
The University of Brussels offers Masters degrees taught in English for as little as €578 per year, and an attractive amount of University courses in many European countries are already taught in English, with numbers of organiszations within these countries offering student internships and placements, plus options of work thereon. To compare fee statistics in EU countries is to question how the UK has managed to get it so terribly wrong. German students pay €100-200 per term and the enrollment fee per year is €1000, regardless of whether the applicant is EU or non-EU. In France, students pay as little as €174 per year, and the hierarchy of universities that dominates the UK is practically non-existent, as students aren’t selected, but may apply only to their nearest university. University education in Denmark is free.
Programs in the UK, while once esteemed by other countries, could now have less to offer young people. International students have always paid a higher rate but this figure is now approaching £18,000 a year. And does a degree from a UK university hold as much precedence as it used to? Whilst fees from international students have been used to supplement those of national students in the past, David Cameron has voiced his intentions to “keep cost for foreign students down”. Indeed, international applications have risen by 12.5%.
Universities cannot be blamed for lack of employment and our current climate makes finding work a struggle in any country. It does, however, mean that students are weighing up hefty debt and neglectful course programs against the study opportunities and minimal costs elsewhere in Europe. Universities in the United Kingdom should look to making improvements to both their standards and costs to enhance their futures and those of their prospective students, both national and international. European universities could hope to receive an increased number of applications from British students from now on, as Journalist Claude Carpentieri remarked, ‘sending a kid to university abroad has never been cheaper.’
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