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Wow, that sucks Lil.

I finish in June (hopefully), so I should miss the price hike. Unless I decide to go back and do other stuff that is....

oh well sh*t happens. Get a job.

The ever sympathetic Corran, ladies and gentlemen.

One tries ones best.

Are you Mr Blair in disguise?

hmmm well studying is still pretty cheap in belgium, thank god

I don't mind paying for food and accommodation etc, but education SHOULD be free!


Lety's all go on a march together! Cos I go to uni next year, and its gonna cost a bomb, because dad just got a pay rise, so we are hardly gonna get any grant money at all. Because now, instead of being at the top of a low pay sclae, we are at the very bottom of the high pay scale!

Notice there's no sympathy from our American friends, that's because they've been paying for college/education for many years, don't hear them complaining too much.

FM... imho, education here is not cheap

compared to 17.000 quid for 3 years it is
that'd be about 25500 euro's which would be 8500 euro's a year

your folks aint spending that by a longshot mate

it's getting more and more expensive!!! where you going to uni phoe?

they should have a thing where if you take out a loan to go to uni to study medicine or whatever then after you go into the NHS you don't have to pay it back

That's strange. I'm pretty sure in the "olden days" the government used to pay YOU money to go to Uni, through grants and such.

They stopped the grants system the year I started Uni, so I'm lumped with a 3k loan....still

To be honest, I don't really think it's worth (money-wise) going to Uni if you are going to be in debt so much.

Is it possible to take the courses in college? I've heard you can but it takes a lot longer.

its a waste of time trying to teach me anything

i want to go to uni!

Does your gov't give out pell grants? (don't shoot me...i am not used to other countries laws...i know they are different from the states........)

to some...

That sounds like a lot money for school in the UK. Here in the States the cheapest education you can get are Community Colleges (which I go to) and then transfer to a 4 year University. I dont have the costs correct so I wont post them but I can tell you is not cheap. Even if you have a bank loan is still not enough.

I'm hoping to go to St. mary's cerm, to study english and creative writing, then do a teacher training year ((which I should get a grant for!))

B'ham uni is a really good one, apparently. I couldn't go there cus they don't run part-time courses there for undergrads.

I've done all my studying the long-winded hard way, night school and now day release Uni, whilst working full time. I did 2 years for an ONC, 2 years for a HNC, 1 year for a HND and now I'm in the final year of a 2 year accelerated BEng (Hons) degree. Its been hard work, but my company has paid for it all the way.

Working for a company with a good training scheme is an option if you don't fancy large debts. Its harder work, but you do get paid too.

Tutition fees are indeed scandelous. Not only are they too high but the loans we get to help us pay them off are not interest free, though i was told mine was. Bring back grants i say!

Wow Mech thats awsome!!
Do you have an obligation to work for them for a certain period of time after you finish BEng (Hons) ?

Not really, I'm a director of the company!

I left school with piss-poor GCSE's and a bad attitude, but after working on a factory floor for 3 years I realised that nothing was ever gonna just land in my lap, there were dudes there pushing retirement age and doing jobs similar to me! Scared the bejesus outta me.

OMG OMG OMG!! You are the director of a company!!!!

David has made it in the world!! There is still hope for the rest of us mortals!!

I am in favour of tuition fees. The money has to come from somewhere and the way student loans work they are not any great financial burden when it is looked at in the context of a lifetime. The average degree more than pays for itself.

University education cannot be practically financed out of general taxation. One way or another, the students HAVE to pay.

I agree with Corran all the way.

College fee's in California are rising as well, thanks to governor dipshit...I mean swartzinidiot

Students HAVE been paying...for a long time now.
Rising fees would not allow students from lower classes to access higher education.

I should read up on him, i was under impression he was doing an ok job!

Nonsense. Rising fees have not deterred people from poorer backgrounds, statistically speaking, and such people will receive funding anyway under the proposed system.

Frankly, the system now, and that existed before, encouraged only one thing- the middle class.

There was never any golden age of lower-class students going to University- it is a myth.

University education is expensive and the populace does not owe you a degree- if you want one, be prepared to pay for it in your life.

I never said there was a golden age of lower class students going to university. But i believe that from existing 9% that are lower class in higher education, will fall below that.

Yes, they will get funding, but not great deal more.

Higher fees WILL put off peole from going to universities...especially people from lower class They cant live off loan only.

Yes they can, that is the point.

And if you admit that there was never such a golden age, you therefore admit that the fact that not many lower class students go, or ever went, cannot have been much to do with fees.

Fifty years down the line this will be the accepted way of things, and people will wonder what the fuss was about.

I'm still happy I live in good old belgium. The Gouvernement does its best to keep the tuition fees as low as possible by giving the unis money from taxes, sure ppl are paying for unis even if they aren't going. Yet again that is socialism, now we should only work on a tax system in whcih the richer pay more and the poor pay less (but that'll never happen with those filthy liberals in the gouvernement, prolly won't happen evever cause ppl are always like: "oooh no they are going to raise taxes then they must be the anti-christ noooo" FFS)

Thats awsome!!

Thats just great, i actually wish it was like that here! Belgioum seems to have it together more than some countries!

we have a very large social service system, it makes our taxes sky rocket, ppl sometimes complain about it but in general we have a good life to live. Better than most other countries, only problem we are having atm is that we need more young workers soon, cause we are gonna have far too much old ppl in a decade or two

I just think it is far too much... especially as I am going to a London University, which automatically doubles the amount I have to pay!

st. mary's in twickenham???

twinky??

hehe

twickenham!

yups - how did you know, most people ask me where it is?!?

Man...the Queen needs to bring the $$ down on taxes and alot over there!!!!! That is all pretty shitey!!

But there is no interest on that debt and it is only ever re-paid when you are able to. In effect, you are not going into debt, simply being advanced the money. Rich or poor makes no difference- you get advanced the money and pay it back in LATER life, so how much money you have when you go to Uni is of no consequence. If you can never pay it back then you will never be asked to, but that is unlikely.

Let us not forget that it is the Universities themselves who begged for this to be allowd- because current funding of universities cannot be maintained.

The Conservatives have said they will remove fees on one condition- they will drastically reduce the amount of people at university.

So you have two choices- either narrow university access, or get people going there to pay. There is no other option.

sounds like a good plan Ush

I plan on going to college and Uni over here in Canada
The thing is our school offers scholarships that pay for the first year of university so you can work and save money and so on.
But I gotta say I'm not really worried because I have a trust account for University.
I'm just not looking forward to all those years of school

lol

another question dont you guys have like scholarships in England

Ush, I think the conservative plan could be quite a good one with a little tweaking, here is what I would suggest:-

Remove the tuition fees and narrow the places that are available for free, those that have the highest grades qualify for the free places, that way we will be getting the cleverer people higher education regardless of their financial situation, this would stop some of the clever people who cannot afford to go to Uni slipping though and having to forego a higher education. It would also mean that anyone wanting to go to Uni for free would have to try harder at school. Make all the other places available at a higher cost, then the little rich kids who think they are clever and just don't want to go to work yet and get mummy and daddy to pay for their education and this extra funding would help the educations system be bettered.

one - one of my mum's friends went there
2. i live really near there!

sounds like a good plan Corran

but do you think that people with higher grades are always cleverer?
cause I know quite a few really clever ppl who don't have high grades because they don't really care, and the opposite. also having high grades and or being clever does not mean that you are automaticaly going to be the best in your profession once you graduate

Heh, yeah, being smart doesn't always mean having high grades.

College/University tuition is high, and I know it's going to be expensive, but here in the US it's almost ridiculous. I'm going to college next year, and depending on which school I go to (either University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or the School of the Art Institute of Chicago...yeah, I'm staying pretty local) it's going to cost a lot. UIUC will be about $15,000 a year and SAIC is about $26,000 a year. So for me to go to college for 4 years it'll cost between $60,000 to $100,000, and that's not even counting books, art supplies (because I'm planning on majoring in art), and all the stuff I'll need for my dorm...it's going to be really expensive. But thankfully I scored really high on the ACT and SAT (evil college entrance exams...I got a 32 of 36 on the ACT and a 1340 of 1600 on the SAT) and I was named an Illinois State Scholar, so I should be able to get some scholarships from that, plus I'm going to apply for all sorts of grants and stuff. College here is so expensive...my aunts are doctors and went to med school, and they're still paying off student loans even though they graduated med school 13 years ago. The thing with student loans here, is unless you're lucky enough to get a government loan, most of them start collecting interest as soon as you take it out and you have to start paying it back right away. But if you get a government loan it doesn't start collecting interest until 9 months after you graduate and you don't have to start paying it back until then (I believe that's right...at least that's what I was told, anyway). But I'm damn determined to go to college, plus there's the fact that I'm taking AP classes this year so that if I pass all of them with good scores, I'll be able to get enough college credit to graduate college an entire semester early

And on the college note...I'm really anxious about graduating high school and going on to college

nice TM still like our belgian system better tho

Exam grades do not qualify intelligence. I have been accepted onto Creative Writing because they have seen my work, and spoken to me, and believe I am a good student. If they went on my grades, I would not get in, because I do poorly in standerdised testing. Most of the great minds in history were not considered conventionally clever when young. St. Mary's agreed to let me in with two c's for A level because they liked my work, and realise that I am not capable of getting the high grades other universities ask for. For that, i applaud St. Marys

Thats so cool! Maybe I'll see you next year when I go there!

Education is a selection process, a decriminative one for that matter! And thats a fact! Teacher behaives differantly towards children from different class! Thats a fact too! Grades do not determane your intelligance as Pohe said already...Certain groups of children are more encouraged than others.

It is the tution fees that have put me off from going to university, instead i am going to opt for the HE (Higher Education) course my college do, its more convinient also as i can still keep my job, its only a 2 minute cycle from my home and im familiar with the surroundings.

Its also ironic that Tony Blair and co are 'upping' OUR tution fees when they had THEIRS paid for by the Goverment.

try going to USC (university of souther california). It costs roughly $27,000 per year to go there. I'd love to figure out what that is in pounds, but i'm not THAT into this thread. And LiL B....good luck w/ law school.

Thanks...

Its just when you look at those figures its...kind of scary, if you know what i mean. Im going to take a mortage for a house as well, adn i dont want to think how much im going to be in debt all together, but i guess everyone has to pay them, its just....really...a lot of money

Did everyone see Blair fluffing his way through that thing yesterday? I didn't, but read about it!

He should try being middle-class and not get any benefits and yet receive all the hinderances of rich people, without the richness. If that makes any sense at all.

Anyway, he's PM. He's got loads of money. And then there's his wife that earns more than he does.

Never mind. Hopefully, I'll get into university before they put the charges on... That means it shouldn't affect me half way through, right?

:PANIC:

if its like that its no big deal

Its hardly worth getting stressed about, and besides most student spend their loans in the pub anyway.

I thought you are gonna have to pay it off anyway...no matter how long it takes...(even if its more 25 years *shudders*)?

I didnt mean to moan either, but it was just after we had a cnferance at Student Union about this...

I think they just write it off after 25 years.

Did you join the SU lils? Every time I enrolled they tried to talk me into joining, but they looked like such a bunch of losers I always said no!

Well to be honest it was something a little stronger than that.

Once I even used that "pretend to look in your pockets for your card" thing, then pulled nothing out except the finger. How I laughed to myself on the drive home.

haha!! You amuse me Mech!!

Well..it was kind of one of those stupid things...im not officialy enroled...in not officialy enroled in anything (lazy arse) it was one of the trial thingys and i wanted to see and.....

OK, OK... there was a hot guy there..so i kind of sat there pretending to pay attention...then never came back!!

Thats fair enough, I have a friend who enrolled into an engineering course at 18 only because the girl at the engineering desk at college was really hot.

He's now about 30 and has always hated engineering.

oh no..poor guy I hope he at least got the girl....

Well..i never went again...and i was ment to have last fri ....meh, who cares, the guy isnt so hot after all...ive decided. Not worth all that effort...i have a better ways to spend my wed afternoons...

Me too, I've had this afternoon to write a preliminary research document. So far I've written...

Wait a moment, word count...............




Zero.

Oh crap.

The government are foul aren't they? Just think how wasteful they are, whilst imposing massive fees.

Exams are easy at school level, just a question of learning. Higher education is more of a challenge though, as the student has to do a lot independently.

You lucky thing