The Student Room Group

Should university be free

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Should university be free

Yes 53%
No47%
Total votes: 297
Should university be free

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Absolutely not - higher education is not a human right. You want it, you pay for it.

In fact I'd go as far as to say that the current fees are not enough, though the proposed tiered system looks somewhat promising. Ideally the student loan scheme would be scrapped entirely and fees would have to be paid upfront - teach all those workshy 18 year olds that you can't have everything handed to you on a plate.
Not free but I personally think it should be slightly cheaper
if i were in charge i'd let students go to university for free if they enroll in the armed forces for 3 years.
To be honest I think all 18 year olds should have to enrol in a year of compulsory unpaid military service anyway.
(edited 3 years ago)
You can go to uni sponsored by the armed forces if you are going to become an officer
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by #ChaosKass
Absolutely not - higher education is not a human right. You want it, you pay for it.

In fact I'd go as far as to say that the current fees are not enough, though the proposed tiered system looks somewhat promising. Ideally the student loan scheme would be scrapped entirely and fees would have to be paid upfront - teach all those workshy 18 year olds that you can't have everything handed to you on a plate.


You know what that means? Good people can't afford to go to university/choose not to and the skilled workforce declines rapidly, followed by the rapid decline of the economy and then huge unemployment across the board.

And for what? Your 'I want young people to have a tough time' sentiment? The ones that go to university are the ones that have been working hard in school!

I can provide you with a list of countries that don't provide students loans vs ones that do if you like? It might shock you but ones that don't tend to suffer for it.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by #ChaosKass
Absolutely not - higher education is not a human right. You want it, you pay for it.

In fact I'd go as far as to say that the current fees are not enough, though the proposed tiered system looks somewhat promising. Ideally the student loan scheme would be scrapped entirely and fees would have to be paid upfront - teach all those workshy 18 year olds that you can't have everything handed to you on a plate.


So you want to take it back to the dark ages where only rich kids could go to uni and no one else can actually have a chance at going to university?!? I feel like you have an unnecessary chip on your shoulder about teenagers, we're not all there for three years of dossing and drinking until we get liver failure! I care a lot about my degree and want to succeed and it's my main focus at university! I want to be an engineer and I can't do that without university or without funding from student finance! Punishing people from less affluent backgrounds and not allowing them to go the university is tragic waste of bright young minds who could achieve much more than they would be limited to without a degree! Give us a Chance at least, millennials aren't all a waste of space like the media want you to believe...
Edit: just saw your profile, good trolling brah!
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by #ChaosKass
Absolutely not - higher education is not a human right. You want it, you pay for it.

In fact I'd go as far as to say that the current fees are not enough, though the proposed tiered system looks somewhat promising. Ideally the student losan scheme would be scrapped entirely and fees would have to be paid upfront - teach all those workshy 18 year olds that you can't have everything handed to you on a plate.


I think that uni fees should exist, but paying them upfront is impractical for anyone who isn't rich
Original post by #ChaosKass
Absolutely not - higher education is not a human right. You want it, you pay for it.

In fact I'd go as far as to say that the current fees are not enough, though the proposed tiered system looks somewhat promising. Ideally the student loan scheme would be scrapped entirely and fees would have to be paid upfront - teach all those workshy 18 year olds that you can't have everything handed to you on a plate.


Assuming this is a troll. But if its not wow.
I've finally realised I've grow up when I'm for having a university fee lol
Original post by Kholmes1
Assuming this is a troll. But if its not wow.


It's not :frown: She commented on a thread yesterday with the 'why should lower class Alan pay for you to drink beer for three years and take gender studies' angle :s

Not realising that under her policy Alan's kids would be stuck in the lower class too and that almost none of the student LOAN ends up spent on leisure, and that almost 0 people take gender studies and that it benefits Alan and the country as a whole in the long run :s

Personally I think she's a little short sighted.
Original post by #ChaosKass
Absolutely not - higher education is not a human right. You want it, you pay for it.

In fact I'd go as far as to say that the current fees are not enough, though the proposed tiered system looks somewhat promising. Ideally the student loan scheme would be scrapped entirely and fees would have to be paid upfront - teach all those workshy 18 year olds that you can't have everything handed to you on a plate.


In my honest opinion this is absolutely ridiculous. Do you know the amount of work that you need to do to get into a top university? That in itself should show you that those dedicated to doing what they want to do in the future, they're not getting it handed to them on a plate, they're working for it. Do I think tuition fees should be abolished? No. Cheaper? Yes. If a young person had to pay the fees upfront that would only make higher education exclusive to the upper classes, restricting those who are less fortunate financially. Education is an amazing thing and should be an opportunity available to everyone should they really work for it.
I don't see anything wrong with what I've proposed.

Young people who want to go to university can get a part time job when they turn 16, and then work full time for a couple of years once their A-levels have finished. Assuming they are still living with their parents during this time, they would have saved enough for the tuition fees and majority of living costs for their three years of university. Then they can get a part-time job while at university and, complete with internships in the summer, will have more than enough to get themselves through to graduation. Plus all this experience they have amassed will put them in a good position to get a decent job after uni.

This way university is accessible to all, while also allowing young people to get a wide variety of work and life experience.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by #ChaosKass
I don't see anything wrong with what I've proposed.

Young people who want to go to university can get a part time job when they turn 16, and then work full time for a couple of years once their A-levels have finished. Assuming they are still living with their parents during this time, they would have saved enough for the vast majority of their three years of university. Then they can get a part-time job while at university and, complete with internships in the summer, will have than enough to get themselves through to graduation. Plus all this experience they have amassed will put them in a good position to get a decent job after uni.

This way university is accessible to all, while also allowing young people to get a wide variety of work and life experience.


Except by 'wide variety of work' you mean instead of two years in a skilled profession you have two years of babysitting or being a receptionist or theme park operator :s
And right now there isn't even a fraction of the required numbers of jobs like that for everyone who wants to go to uni to get one (there's barely enough for people who don't want to go to uni), and the ones that exist don't pay enough to support rent for the people who can't live it home/don't have parents who will pay for their food/utilities now that they're no longer legally responsible and save up for uni? Some people take 20 odd years paying back their student loan because they can't afford to do it any other way - two years of lower work is nowhere near equivalent to that
And it means the country gets two years less of skilled workers - doing the things I mentioned earlier (5% of that skilled worker's working life)
And 'all this experience' will not help them get a job - because everyone will have it.

And again, all of these problems arise because... you want young people to have it tough (for some reason?), and you've added life experience (and the debunked variety of work) - I would say uni gives far more and better life experience than factory work (the only sector which has the capacity to expand to support so many people)?
Original post by #ChaosKass
I don't see anything wrong with what I've proposed.

Young people who want to go to university can get a part time job when they turn 16, and then work full time for a couple of years once their A-levels have finished. Assuming they are still living with their parents during this time, they would have saved enough for the tuition fees and majority of living costs for their three years of university. Then they can get a part-time job while at university and, complete with internships in the summer, will have more than enough to get themselves through to graduation. Plus all this experience they have amassed will put them in a good position to get a decent job after uni.

This way university is accessible to all, while also allowing young people to get a wide variety of work and life experience.


So someone who wants to study medicine would have to pay at least £45k up front. Get real. This would be impossible.
No. If you want a higher education, you should pay for it. The government already subsidies courses. Besides, there are already enough people willing to pay for higher education (this year's results day showed that more people are going to university courses than before) so we don't need to add an extra incentive by making it free.
Yes
Original post by #ChaosKass
I don't see anything wrong with what I've proposed.

Young people who want to go to university can get a part time job when they turn 16, and then work full time for a couple of years once their A-levels have finished. Assuming they are still living with their parents during this time, they would have saved enough for the tuition fees and majority of living costs for their three years of university. Then they can get a part-time job while at university and, complete with internships in the summer, will have more than enough to get themselves through to graduation. Plus all this experience they have amassed will put them in a good position to get a decent job after uni.

This way university is accessible to all, while also allowing young people to get a wide variety of work and life experience.


How much do you think part time 16 year olds earn? Not enough to cover 3 years worth of tuition and living expenses.
(edited 7 years ago)

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