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I was reading in the Guardian today a report that UK university heads want to increas fees at UK universities from 3,000GBP to 5,000GBP, with an expectation that really 7,500 -10,000GBP is what is required.
Well, if you're a UK student, start a campaign against this. Get some support from your schools. Make your parents aware of the nonsensical reasons put forward.
The vague heuristic put forward is that to compete with the US, who have the best universities on the whole, we need to move towards their models. OK. Let's examine that notion for one second. Firstly, we must exclude Harvard et al from the discussion. These are private institutions supported not by the state (for the purposes of educating undergraduates). The US has a far higher number of rich benefactors (Carnegie, etc) who have been leading examples in supporting society's loftier aims. Cite examples of UK rich buggers who pay for orchestras, university chairs, and the like that are in anyway comparable. Harvard 'earns' more in private donations per year than any UK university can ever dream of getting from the state. This also completely ignores the fact that the best students at Harvard (for example) do not pay anything approaching the stated tuition fees.
We are left with a fairer direct comparison between a normal UK university and a state university in the US, such as UC Berkeley, or U Wisconsin (Madison).
Here are some examples of tuition fees from US institutions that are comparably funded (i.e. supported by the tax payer directly) in the US:UC Berkeley $2,703
UC Los Angeles $5,406
U Washington (Seattle) $5,985.
U Illinois (Urbana) $9,996
All of these are much better places to be a student than where I work (University of Bristol; current fees equate to $5,700).
It is time the UK accepted that the State has to pay for the universities, not the student. So come on, prospective students. Start demanding explanations of the current dire state of affairs.
Well, if you're a UK student, start a campaign against this. Get some support from your schools. Make your parents aware of the nonsensical reasons put forward.
The vague heuristic put forward is that to compete with the US, who have the best universities on the whole, we need to move towards their models. OK. Let's examine that notion for one second. Firstly, we must exclude Harvard et al from the discussion. These are private institutions supported not by the state (for the purposes of educating undergraduates). The US has a far higher number of rich benefactors (Carnegie, etc) who have been leading examples in supporting society's loftier aims. Cite examples of UK rich buggers who pay for orchestras, university chairs, and the like that are in anyway comparable. Harvard 'earns' more in private donations per year than any UK university can ever dream of getting from the state. This also completely ignores the fact that the best students at Harvard (for example) do not pay anything approaching the stated tuition fees.
We are left with a fairer direct comparison between a normal UK university and a state university in the US, such as UC Berkeley, or U Wisconsin (Madison).
Here are some examples of tuition fees from US institutions that are comparably funded (i.e. supported by the tax payer directly) in the US:UC Berkeley $2,703
UC Los Angeles $5,406
U Washington (Seattle) $5,985.
U Illinois (Urbana) $9,996
All of these are much better places to be a student than where I work (University of Bristol; current fees equate to $5,700).
It is time the UK accepted that the State has to pay for the universities, not the student. So come on, prospective students. Start demanding explanations of the current dire state of affairs.
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