[Dam]

(Original post by dominicjohnson)
You know what? It is a nice thought to think that some people want to go to university to learn something;.

I agree, so many people talk about whether university is a good investment or not, and I've met plenty of people who just seem to see a degree as a ticket to getting a good job.

[nivvy21]

outta interest, who da hell wud higher the uni fee?

[fermium3]

If i was to not go to university, why should my Dad have his taxes go towards paying education fees for other people? I think it makes sense that we pay for them.

One argument against this is that 'poorer people' wont be able to afford to go to university. Student loans, bursaries and scolarships are available which provide more than enough money to live on during studies. Also, heres a Direct Gov quote about paying back student loans:
""
Full-time and part-time students who start their course after 1 September 2012 begin paying back their student loan once they earn more than £21,000 year.
Repayments for courses starting after 1 September 2012 won't begin until April 2016.
For example, if your course finishes in June 2015 and you get a job paying £25,000 in September 2015, you start repayments in April 2016.
If your income falls below £21,000 a year, your repayments stop.
If you're a part-time student earning more than £21,000 a year you start repaying your loan in the April four years after starting your course. This applies even if you're still studying.
Students can pay back all or some of their loan at any time without incurring an early repayment charge.
""
With fees, more tax money is put towards other areas, and ALL students can still afford to go.

[Hopple]

(Original post by fermium3)
If i was to not go to university, why should my Dad have his taxes go towards paying education fees for other people? I think it makes sense that we pay for them.

One argument against this is that 'poorer people' wont be able to afford to go to university. Student loans, bursaries and scolarships are available which provide more than enough money to live on during studies. Also, heres a Direct Gov quote about paying back student loans:
""
Full-time and part-time students who start their course after 1 September 2012 begin paying back their student loan once they earn more than £21,000 year.
Repayments for courses starting after 1 September 2012 won't begin until April 2016.
For example, if your course finishes in June 2015 and you get a job paying £25,000 in September 2015, you start repayments in April 2016.
If your income falls below £21,000 a year, your repayments stop.
If you're a part-time student earning more than £21,000 a year you start repaying your loan in the April four years after starting your course. This applies even if you're still studying.
Students can pay back all or some of their loan at any time without incurring an early repayment charge.
""
With fees, more tax money is put towards other areas, and ALL students can still afford to go.

What do you say to students who got their education paid for, do they now owe money back into the system? We sure could do with it. And what about the students who got in on £1k or £3k? And arguably the government/taxpayer is still subsidising courses even if they charge £9k.

[im so academic]

(Original post by parryw)
Everyone benefits from people going to university, whether it is the doctor who treats you when you're ill or the teacher who will teach your future children. Therefore, it seems fair that society as a whole pays for at least some of the tuition fees. However, it is the individual who receives the biggest benefit and therefore they should pay a significant amount, but I believe £9000 is higher than that amount!!

What about the media graduates on the dole?

[King Kebab]

Yes, but lower fee cap


The 50% target Labour introduced was a shocking mistake. They have police services and fashion degrees now for gods sake.

Paying for their education would mean that only those who were committed would apply for university as well.

[Sdiff]

(Original post by nivvy21)
outta interest, who da hell wud higher the uni fee?

People who don't want a handout and are willing and responsible enough to pay for their own education?

[funsongfactory]

(Original post by Historophilia)
I don't believe tertiary education is a right at all, it's perfectly reasonable that people should be expected to pay.

And now with so many more people going to Uni you can't expect the tax payer to foot the bill. Including tax payers who never went to university themselves and whose children or grand children won't either.

^ this. I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon of saying "why should a binmen or shopkeeper fund your pointless mickey mouse course?" but even more traditional degrees such as maths, history or classics are never going to benefit these low-earning people so why should they pay for them?

[Historophilia]

(Original post by funsongfactory)
^ this. I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon of saying "why should a binmen or shopkeeper fund your pointless mickey mouse course?" but even more traditional degrees such as maths, history or classics are never going to benefit these low-earning people so why should they pay for them?

Exactly.

I don't buy the argument that "everyone benefits from people going to university" either.

The person who benefits most from a person going to University is that person.

[funsongfactory]

(Original post by Historophilia)
Exactly.

I don't buy the argument that "everyone benefits from people going to university" either.

The person who benefits most from a person going to University is that person.

Agreed. The only degree where that argument holds any weight is medicine, but doctors earn a lot and many go abroad or private which negates any argument that they shouldn't pay fees.

[Historophilia]

(Original post by funsongfactory)
Agreed. The only degree where that argument holds any weight is medicine, but doctors earn a lot and many go abroad or private which negates any argument that they shouldn't pay fees.

And you will always get people wanting be doctors, it's not like people will suddenly stop applying if you put the fees up. Besides the job satisfaction that might come with it the financial remuneration for medicine will always be good and on top of that being a doctor has huge social kudos.

There's an argument for certain degrees that are very much needed and in short supply being funded. So courses like midwifery or nursing degrees that specialise in caring for the elderly and dealing with Alzheimers patients I might buy into being subsidised.

After all neither of those will pay hugely well, are very hard and don't carry the social status of medicine. And we desperately need more of both. Whereas we have and always will have plenty of doctors.

[Luminescent]

Yes, I think the system as it stands is quite reasonable. I think that if you won't earn £27,000+ more with your degree over 50 years then you really shouldn't be doing it at all. However, I don't want unlimited fees - the system in the US really seems like it burdens you with a lot of debt.

[alexs2602]

(Original post by Ben Butler)
University should be funded by the taxpayer, just like school and college is. You get that for free and you earn your right go to uni by working hard, so why should you have to pay £9,000? It would almost certainly open university up to highly capable working class people who were deprived of the chance of going in the past because they couldn't afford to go.

I completely disagree. People take school and college for granted so chances are if you make uni free then there will be a larger percentage of students that will take that for granted too, therefore wasting more of the taxpayers' money. At any rate, for current or previous students tuition fees are a bargain, more so for students with more contact hours but a bargain nonetheless. £10k for a first class education? Count me in! You would have to pay for the living costs regardless, so ignore that. Dude, I'm working class and I can afford to go, everyone can afford to go provided they earn their grades. What utter crap! We should pay for a higher education and higher potential income.

[funsongfactory]

(Original post by Historophilia)
And you will always get people wanting be doctors, it's not like people will suddenly stop applying if you put the fees up. Besides the job satisfaction that might come with it the financial remuneration for medicine will always be good and on top of that being a doctor has huge social kudos.

There's an argument for certain degrees that are very much needed and in short supply being funded. So courses like midwifery or nursing degrees that specialise in caring for the elderly and dealing with Alzheimers patients I might buy into being subsidised.

After all neither of those will pay hugely well, are very hard and don't carry the social status of medicine. And we desperately need more of both. Whereas we have and always will have plenty of doctors.

I agree. Although I thought some nursing courses were already funded by the NHS?

[vulcanusii]

I absolutely believe that the state should pay for university. Why? Well the answer is simple: it's a very sound investment indeed. Just think how much, as a percentage, of your tax would go on tuition fees, and then think just how many lawyers, doctors, teachers, firemen etc you gain from it.

Education is always, and will always be, the silver bullet. The bettering of democracy, the thing that gives us a greater understanding of life and a better appreciation for it's marvellous nature. As such, it is definitely a right of every person, regardless of where they come from, to have such an opportunity. Don't laud the removal of a cap in my face either. If a university are prepared to make my degree a multitude of times better than the previous years at my point of entry, then we can talk. But they can't and don't. It's sheer greed. Don't tell me this current system is good enough either, it isn't. UCAS received some 10% fewer applicants this year. Why? Well it doesn't take a genius to see its connected to the trebling of debt for the same qualification.

It comes down to this. In a world where Britain's exports are negligible, it's military power is waining, it's world presence diminishing and it's empire gone, the only thing we have left are the people - they are what matters above all, and they are our finest resource for the future. I look at the graduate rates of emerging countries like Korea, China and soon the USA and I worry that we are already too late to stay afloat in such a skilled, competitive global economy. Can't afford to pay the bill, you say short-sightedly. Well, I look to our uncertain future and say we cannot afford to not pay it.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[PeaceLoveKindness]

Yes I agree with fees for university. The money is in better use in some other sector plus it encourages university goers to work hard in order to help the economy to grow in the long term. It's just the amount people have to pay... I know as a country we are in debt and we need to cough up the money some how, but it's quite sad that university graduates are roughly £27,000 minimum in debt after leaving university. I don't think it's fair in comparison to the previous. Basically my sister has been to university twice now and I'm going once yet I'm still going to be in more debt than her. Injustice? Yes. It deters people from going to university and can actually have an inverse effect and the economy may not grow as much. However, my point is that university fees do more good than harm in my opinion.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[DarkWhite]

(Original post by funsongfactory)
Agreed. The only degree where that argument holds any weight is medicine, but doctors earn a lot and many go abroad or private which negates any argument that they shouldn't pay fees.

(Original post by Historophilia)
And you will always get people wanting be doctors, it's not like people will suddenly stop applying if you put the fees up. Besides the job satisfaction that might come with it the financial remuneration for medicine will always be good and on top of that being a doctor has huge social kudos.

There's an argument for certain degrees that are very much needed and in short supply being funded. So courses like midwifery or nursing degrees that specialise in caring for the elderly and dealing with Alzheimers patients I might buy into being subsidised.

After all neither of those will pay hugely well, are very hard and don't carry the social status of medicine. And we desperately need more of both. Whereas we have and always will have plenty of doctors.

Going to put out there that medicine degrees aren't funded in the same way as other programmes. They're part funded by the NHS and pretty much guaranteed a job with them (although this isn't set out explicitly).

[funsongfactory]

(Original post by DarkWhite)
Going to put out there that medicine degrees aren't funded in the same way as other programmes. They're part funded by the NHS and pretty much guaranteed a job with them (although this isn't set out explicitly).

If you train to be a teacher you're pretty much guaranteed a job but that doesnt mean the state should fund it.

[Redheaded_Dancer]

I don't think that taxes should go towards university fees except for examples where the course is an NHS degree (eg, nursing, midwifery, radiology is also another one I think) and tuition fees are already paid for by the NHS in such cases.
But in all honesty, I do think they need to be lowered, most people can't afford university without a hefty loan to see them through but who really wants a loan hanging over their head because they want to have a higher level of education but couldn't afford it?

[ChipDeeks]

Okay so personally i don't think that it's right that there are any fees at all, let alone the exorbitant amount that we have now that, no matter what the current government says, will increase class divisions in society. However, i think that the provision of the maintenance grant as a loan is fair - especially with the mixed bursary and loan system. It's the only way that the society can become more equal is to start from the bottom (education) and work up (the workplace).