The government introduced tuition fees (also known as top-up fees) in 1998 which allowed universities to charge up to £1000 per annum. Grants were phased out, replaced with loans which had to be paid back when income reached a certain threshold. Now, in 2010, a university can charge up to £3,225 per annum.
It’s the universities that have lobbied the government to raise tuition fee caps, make no mistake, they would charge you much more if they could. Nearly all universities charge the full fee permitted.
The short answer would be they are being run less and less like schools and more and more like businesses.
They’d charge more if they could: A BBC survey suggested that 2/3rds of the 53 University Vice Chancellors wanted an increase in tuition fees, with a huge range proposed from £4,000 to £20,000.
I think the cause is probably deeper, there’s a side to university thinking which I think is genuinely quite embittered.
The academic outlook hasn’t been in fashion for a number of years. No one in government or any pundits on TV recommend solving problems by carefully studying them, and finding a university professor to help them on the way. There’s also a plethora of courses like media studies that are widely derided by the public.
Perhaps they are bitter of their perceived lack of status. They feel under-appreciated and under-valued and seek more money to compensate for this.
So if the universities plunge students into 20K debt, what does this tell us about how much they care about your career prospects? Graduates owe so much money because universities don’t care at all about your long term financial well-fare.
Fortunately The University Alternative is here to help.