I've just looked into an OU degree to further my career

[DaanSaaf]

Holy fucking shitballs. 17 and a half grand! Aibu to be really bloody shocked at the price?

Doing one at a bricks and mortar uni would be at least £27,000, why are you surprised?

It is now under the same finance options as any other degree so if it is your first degree or some specific degree types you can get a loan that works like a tax.

It does seem expensive though given that a few years ago people could use Tesco vouchers to pay large chunks of their fees.

I don't know why, I think I imagined it as a 'course' that would cost a couple of thousand.

But it’s not a course... it’s a degree.

They're expensive but OU courses are really good in my experience. That seems the extreme end, though - what course is it? Most are around the 6-7k mark.

www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate/fees-and-funding

always cringe when i open threads and there's such vile language. completely unnecessary OP, not even funny, how old are you 14?

I'm guessing it's a Master of Business Administration? I wonder why that one is so much more expensive than any other. Does it include a lot of residential stints?

Ah it's an MBA, I think they tend to be a lot more expensive.

Physical as opposed to online degrees cost between 27 and 36 grand, so in that sense it's cheaper. I believe you can get a part time tuition fee loan from student finance too if you dont already have a qualification at the level you want to study at.

Cross posted with everyone else as I was too busy googling student finance

MBAs are expensive. Just do a google search on the top mbas (LBS, cass, said) upwards of 50k

Oh get a grip millter it's always been a sweary site. Maybe Netmums is more your speed, less fucks and cunts over there I gather.

OP I'm guessing you're in England? It's bloody eye watering now! So glad I've graduated.

It used to be much cheaper, they have really cranked up the price in recent years. They are marketing themselves to overseas students a lot more these days.

DH did the first year of a MA with them - he realised it would have been substantially cheaper going to Birkbeck to do an in-person MA, so he transferred. Half of the OU course consisted of links to videos provided by Yale University (ie completely free public content, link below). They have really sold out, IMO.

oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300/lecture-1

I’m doing the OU MBA! It’s by far the cheapest and you can pay as you go, so if you need to take a break to save up, you can.

So glad I started mine before the price hike went up.

Have you looked at other distance learning universities? They might be cheaper?

I did the OU MBA. They have a "budget account" so you can pay as you go. Also, if you look at it that you are still earning, you aren't losing the income you would if you took time out.

Now earning more than three times as when I started so well worth the investment.

It's ridiculous. I looked at the OU myself to do a BSc but the cost really deterred me. Now enrolling to do the same degree (internationally accredited) at the German OU for 2000 Euros. It will be a little bit faffier e.g to book into 'accepted' places for actual exams, but it's still worth it for me. Good thing I'm fluent in German although large parts are in English anyway.

I graduated 3 years ago and paid low fees of about 600 a year. We could pay over the year interest free. I also paid a module with Tesco points!

The OU wasn't behind price rises it was the Government and scrapping of funding which badly affected OU and part time degrees. It has been hugely pared back. A few years back we had books and tutorials and lectures 2 or 3 weekly. That's rare now.

Apologies, I fell asleep because I'm 14

Thanks for the replies. I guess I was being naive, it shocked me. Yes it's an MBA. Looks like I'd better start saving!

Their prices are ridiculous. I studied with them when the old fees (about £700-£800 per year, I got a grant one year due to low income as well) were still in operation. There’s no justification for charging such high fees now - nothing has changed in the way the course is delivered or in terms of study materials. So why the massive price hike? The OU was founded so that people who couldn’t afford/didn’t have chance to go to uni the traditional way could still study for a qualification, they have really gone against their founding principles with this.

millter
always cringe when i open threads and there's such vile language. completely unnecessary OP, not even funny, how old are you 14?

Oh dear the fucking swear police have arrived. How old are you 140? Nethuns is -------> that way.

OP I'm not surprised you're shocked that sounds a lot! Are you still thinking you might do it?

always cringe when i open threads and there's such vile language. completely unnecessary OP,

Careful, clutch those pearls any harder and they're likely to snap.

If you feel it necessary to "cringe" and then post an irrelevant comment about something that is totally within MN rules, maybe MN isn't the forum for you.

The OU wasn't behind price rises it was the Government and scrapping of funding which badly affected OU and part time degrees. It has been hugely pared back. A few years back we had books and tutorials and lectures 2 or 3 weekly. That's rare now.

Harold Wilson must be turning in his grave, he regarded the OU as the greatest achievement of his political career. It was intended to give people who couldn't afford to give up work a chance to get a degree, now you'd have to get a 2nd job to pay the fees.

It seems absurd when you realise how much cheaper it is to deliver the content now it's on t'internet and not BBC2 programmes at weird times of day/night. I was thinking about doing an art history degree, and the fees shocked me. But the modules aren't really what I wanted either, I wanted to focus on European painting.

The price hike is entirely because the government withdrew all funding. It wasn't an OU decision. The courses always cost that much to deliver - it's just that the students didn't have to pay the full cost and they do now.

better start saving

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