I truly think Uni fees should be scrapped.....

[debbs77]

....for certain subjects.

Such as education, health and welfare degrees.

Surely the cost of University (I know of the loans etc) and family income tested funding is the reason so many people DON'T go to university any more?

Or, that fees get refunded if the graduate DOES go in to the field they qualified for.

I graduated in 2000.....no Uni fees, I got a student loan, and a grant (lived with my mum and step Dad and his income wasn't taken into account).

My son wants to go to Uni and due to low household income he would get the full loan amount I believe, but if that wasn't the case, then he couldn't afford to go and move away (he is planning to go to a local Uni anyway). And as a single parent with other children, I couldn't help him financially either way!

Back in the day when university education was free, it was only top students that got in.
Now it seems all and sundry can get in. I have no problem funding the training of teachers, nurses, doctors, ie: essential professions.
I don't want to be funding all the mickey mouse degrees that are floating about now

Yes it should be free with a registration fee. In Ireland that used to be around 600-700
A year when "free fees" were introduced but it's around 2 grand a year now bit at least that is manageable for the student to work during the summers or for parents if they have it. Also a grant is still a grant it's not a loan like here. My dd will come out of uni with nearly 40 grand debt. Some for fees some for maintenance. But her "richer" friends will have either no debt if their parents can afford it or will have just the fees . This system still punishes the poor IMO. Plus it has turned universities into businesses where a lot of them are just churning out degrees in exchange for money. Students are accommodated so so much compared to when I was at uni. They are spoon fed. Cos there is this expectation that they pay the money and get the degree. Plus the unis are putting money into things that will please the students like buildings while the lecturers are on temporary contracts and paid a pittance with very little career progression possible. The uni near me now has sept Jan and April starters. The lecturers have no break to do their own study or research. The knock on effects of these fees is very far reaching . It's sad as the Uk used to be thought well of I. The academic world but the way the unis are going they are getting a bad name plus brexit and nobody wants to come here. Very sad imo.

I personally think that £2000 of loan should be paid off for each year people work in essential public sector occupations, eg teachers, armed forces, nurses, drs. Private companies should be encouraged to offer similar as part of their pay package.

It should also be written off once the principal is paid, in other words the government should write off the interest meaning a typical £50k loan will be paid off by working in the public sector for 25 years at no cost to you. Those who choose to emigrate for instance should loose this (£20k) contribution if within 10 years of graduation to stem the loss of drs.

Obviously the legal side needs to get sorted but rewarding for doing important work!

They should be scrapped; but for the reason that they aren’t cost effective. The student loans being taken out to pay them and then not getting repaid is v bad value for the government and it would make better financial sense to fund degrees (and protect them from market forces that are driving grade inflation etc)

£560million wasted on HS2 or the £10billion of bogus PPE sales written off, what about non dom payment of tax losing us 3.5billion at the most modest estimate!!!

When it was free to.go a much smaller percentage of students went to university.

Universities do not necessarily own or operate accommodation badged with their name. Private companies often do, perhaps paying a fee for the badge and some promotion

We have two at Uni at the same time and it is hugely expensive to support them. DD is starting a Nursing course in september and it would be nice if fees for that were scrapped although we are hoping she does get the NHS bursary. It would hopefully encourage more into Nursing which is desperately needed. When i did my Nurse training in the eighties obviously it wasn't a degree and we got paid a small wage whilst training.

• @Babyroobs she will get the bursary, in England anyway. It’s

non means tested. No idea about wales or Scotland

Thanks yes it will really help.

UK general government gross debt was £2,654.3 billion at the end of Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2023, equivalent to 100.0% of gross domestic product (GDP). UK general government deficit (or net borrowing) was £39.2 billion in Quarter 3 2023, equivalent to 5.8% of GDP.

This article from 2017 I don't know if it's up to date or correct but it may offer some guidance as to the cost, and whether it is affordable for us as a country.
Without comparable Exchequer funding, abolishing tuition fees (for English-domiciled students and EU students studying in England) would result in HEIs losing approximately £11.776 billion in tuition fee income per cohort of students

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-costs-of-labours-tuition-fee-pledge/#:~:text=Labour's%20pledge%20to%20drop%20tuition,income%20per%20cohort%20of%20students.

Everyone opposing free, or cheaper, university education should have to disclose how much they paid for theirs.

It is not for profit. The new buildings are not because unis are making a profit. It's because the funding model is so screwed, unis have to have a surplus of funds to keep them going so one way they can do this is in capital invested in buildings. Unis are not allowed to make a profit.

There is a shortfall for every domestic student.

I would disagree that teaching is worse. Expectations are huge now. I used to go to a lecture in the nineties and never expect to see them again until the following week. Now, we get teams messages, emails, a queue after every class. Expectation that they don't turn up and somehow then get a bespoke one to one catch up service. Even when I started the job was very different to how it is now.

If we scrap fees then less students will go to uni. I think some cap should be reintroduced but there needs to be more support for alternatives to HE too.

I don't like that Unis seem to just take over cities more than ever these days. The likes of Durham are just using the whole city as a campus. Locals have fuck all chance of renting in the city.

I did my nurse training in the 90,s and got a,bursary it was under project 2000
There are other ways though
A friend of mine recently qualified under the nurse apprenticeship scheme and was paid throughout her training and didn't have to pay any fees and came out with a first class honours degree .