In 2005, cries for education, education, education echoed throughout Downing Street as Tony Blair highlighted his concerns for a complacent generation hell bent on underage drinking and shagging. His resolution to this was clear, invest some dollar in the youth and we’ll be on the way to recovery; after all, the ASBO wielding kids of today are the men and women of tomorrow. However just six years later, we find ourselves in an era of colossal financial cock-up’s that have left our Government continuously digging their own grave just a tombstone away from Labours current resting place. Unprecedented cuts to the teaching budget for universities were casually defended as a necessary measure to alleviate the deficit. But, with little funding coming from the good old Gov, what social group could possibly foot the bill? Why the completely penniless, unemployed and financially unstable students of course! Ah, light bulb on and the politicians have done it again with their extreme wit and compassion for society. “By raising tuition fees to a max of £9000 not only can we counteract our hideous miscalculations on budget spending, BUT, we can also completely sift out the middle class… you know those ones that just go to Uni to piss about!” And as-if this baffling rationality was not elitist enough, universities countrywide will now be allowed to accept as many students as they wish who have achieved grades A-A-B. With a typically Capitalist flick of the political wand a consumer-driven university system is born, where not only the lower classes will be sieved through this ‘selective’ system, but also those attaining less then AAB can be effortlessly filtered out of the equation. Voila, we’ve got rid of the paupers and the underachievers, fixed our epic-spending hiccup… let’s all go down to Embankment and get pissed!
Universities will be gasping for these highflying students to fill their quotas and fuel their budgets and so they have been reduced to competing against one another. Seems feral to me but the apparent logic behind these highly questionable government ventures, is that universities will now have to advertise themselves to the students they so desperately need by providing incentives. Coincidently, the most attractive of these being tuition fees below the £9000 maximum… leading to reduced quality of teaching and subject areas as lower fees essentially equals lower budget and ultimately, lower standards. It would appear universities will be racing to the bottom and we can wave goodbye to hopes for increased social mobility. However, there might be a light at the end of the tunnel… I just cannot see it yet! I will be following this topic very closely and keep you updated… until then, a word of advice to the Chancellor of Exchequer… buy a bloody calculator that works!
Kirstie Eden
Follow Kirstie: @Edensepiphany
The Arrogance
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Well the new system will not really affect students while they are at university. I don't think people realise that as a student you will get a tuition fee loan to cover the 9 grand so it will be no different to the current system, it will just mean you will finish with more debt at the end and you don't have to start paying that back until your earning 21 grand. Plus you only pay back 9% of what you earn over 21 grand and if you have not paid it off after 30 years it is written off! The big problem with this new system is currently the government have to fork out money every year in loans so students can pay their tuition fees. Obviously it takes time for that money to be paid back as people have to finish uni, get employed and pay it back slowly over the years after they graduate. With fees at 9 grand the government will now have to initially fork out 3x more money each year than they are currently doing in loans! Where is that money coming from? Plus the increased debt this will bring to students will mean the government will be waiting years before this system will actually help the current economic problems, in the short term they will be giving out 3x more than they currently have been doing. It will be interesting to see what the next move will be in the years to come on university fee's.
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