May launches review of high UK university fees, promising fairer deal

May's predecessor David Cameron, a fellow Conservative, tripled the cost of tuition for students from England and Wales to 9,000 pounds a year ($12,640), many times higher than the fees other EU countries charge their citizens.

Cameron was a twat.

The opposition Labour Party says it wants to eliminate student fees and restore grants.

If they are serious about it THAT'S who the british electorate should be voting for.

The opposition said such a system would only serve to lock poor students out of the best-paid professions.

They're right.

May will acknowledge that Britain now has "one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world", and pledge to make it fairer, according to excerpts from her speech released in advance by her office.

Because of the bloody tories. This is disgraceful. Back in the 80s and early 90s it was free to go to university.

We see this happening everywhere a conservative government gets into power. Cameron in the UK, Harper in Canada. These muppets do not have the best interests of their electorate in mind.

Cameron was a twat

You’ll get no argument from me there.

I’d just add that the man who introduced university fees ( admittedly low compared to Cameron’s ) was...the leader of the party trumpeting social mobility...Tony Blair. He normalized this and made it easier for the Tories to jack them up as the Lib Dems rolled over.

Good to see Jezza still sees the importance of social mobility.

When I went to university in the 1970's I received a grant for all fees, costs, living, transport. I'm a believer in free access to education unto graduate level.

To quote Jimizo: You’ll get no argument from me there.

( admittedly low compared to Cameron’s ) was...the leader of the party trumpeting social mobility...Tony Blair

ANOTHER TWAT.

When I went to university in the 1970's I received a grant for all fees, costs, living, transport

As did the vast majority of the politicos who decided it would be a good idea to price young people out of the education market.

Young people graduating from university should not be starting their lives already in debt.

Exactly. They're already financially behind their peers who went straight from high school into employment.

the interest rate it charges on student loans, which are pegged at 3 percentage points above retail price inflation. The current rate of 6.1 percent is higher than most banks charge for mortgages or unsecured personal loans.

And this is simply scandalous.

I'm a supporter of free education, but we will have to discuss exactly which types of degrees are going to be free. This is part of the bargain when the state pays. We should have the honesty to admit that this will inevitably lead to the politicisation of universities and reduced choice for students.

As a taxpayer I am willing to fund rigorous programs such as engineering, medicine, law, business, history, economics, languages, computer science, archaeology, among others. But there is no way I am paying for people to go get a degree in 'Intersectional gender studies' or 'Critical race theory' or any of other the other nonsense courses that have popped up in private sector education.

@M3M3M3

I see what you are saying here. I did a science degree and there is snobbery around. I remember one of my lecturers describing Economics as English Lit for those who fancied half a challenge.

Then again, you don’t need a Physics degree to do my job. My degree in no way prepared me for the workplace.

History? Why should that be funded? Languages? I learned Japanese at the city office classes and through my own studies.

I think we can argue all day about what should be funded. I think we’d all agree on medicine but many of the others you mentioned are up for debate.

When I went to university in the 1970's I received a grant for all fees, costs, living, transport

I'm of that generation too. But back then, fewer than 10% of people went to university. University tuition is still free in Scotland, but with over 40% of people now attending, the cost is hard to ignore.

i got a free education and unemployment and housing benefit back in the day. after graduation i got a good job and have paid taxes ever since. if no free education, i would probably just stay on the dole.

@zichi

University educated citizens regardless which degree they chose to study lead to a better society with more capable people.

I totally agree, but free university education does not always equal better access to education for more people. In many European countries where the state pays for education (ie. Germany), the accredidation process for public university courses is very strict and the programs which are approved by the government take into account factors such as the economic needs of the country and how many people are already studying those fields. One of the biggest control mechanisms is that there are limited spaces alotted for each subject from year to year. The entrance requirements to get into these universities is also far more stringent than in the UK because there is alot more competition for these limited free places. If you want to study some of the less substantial subjects, you have to go to a private university.

@Jimizo

History? Why should that be funded? Languages? I learned Japanese at the city office classes and through my own studies.

I think we can argue all day about what should be funded. I think we’d all agree on medicine but many of the others you mentioned are up for debate.

That's very true, and this is why completely putting the choice into government hands might be a bit dangerous.

But to be honest, I'm not sure traditional universities will even be around in their current form in 10 or 15 years. I think cheaply delivering recorded lectures and discussions online is the way things are going. There is no reason to send your kid to another town for 9,000 per year when they can get a quality education by watching tutorials on Youtube. Except for that one piece of paper you get at the end, university is not good value for money in my opinion.

May's predecessor David Cameron, a fellow Conservative, tripled the cost of tuition for students from England and Wales to 9,000 pounds a year ($12,640), many times higher than the fees other EU countries charge their citizens. In 2016, the government also phased out all grants to help poorer students with living costs, replacing them with loans.

Wow, I actually didn't know the situation was 'that' bad in the uk (re student loans) and thought their system was more or less 'aligned' with their euro neighbours' i.e free education, generous grants, housing benefits etc. The UK is actually very similar to what they do in oz, know plenty of ppl well into their 30s who're still paying off their student loans. (often tell them, with great pride, how I was even able to inject some of my housing $ into my booze budget).

Shift the humanities (social sciences, philosophy, anything ending in "studies") to Open University. The money saved on operating hundreds of separate humanities courses on physical universities throughout the U.K can be used to consolidate and expand the online humanities offering. University buildings could be re-purposed for other uses. Given the efficiencies generated you might even be able to offer humanities degrees for free online and that could be used as a fantastic selling point for this move. There is no need to offer courses that rely so heavily on reading and written material on campuses in the internet age. A lot of it is available for free online as well. Physical universities should focus on STEM, Medical, Environmental and Psychology, Business and Commerce in order to link business minded people with science minded people.

Replace universities with apprenticeships. Want to be a doctor? At 16 (high school tends to repeat a lot, so consolidate and shorten) apprentice yourself to a doctor or team of doctors performing work for near free while getting education from them. Want to be a teacher? Apprentice with a teacher or team of teachers. Engineer, architect, plumber, librarian, historian...works for all. Universities can be a public area for reading, gathering, holding post-employment meetings on interested subjects. Win-win.

The Tories wish for a return to the 1800's with the Elite class being Oxbridge and the rest simply plebs.

Money maketh man....

I'm not a Tory nor am I affiliated towards any other Political party in the UK... I just tell it as I see it.

@zichi - after you gained your Free UK Edu. What'd you put back to the UK ?

I paid for myself through Uni. I was fortunate, since I could work during my Summer Hols doing IT work that paid well. But,... back then, the Tuition fees hadn't been added .... never-the-less, I subsequently worked in the UK and paid my Taxes handsomely only to end up transferred out of the country a few years later. My younger Siblings weren't so fortunate, so I ended up having to help them out at my own expense, and why did I do so ? Simply to give us all a better chance than our Parents had....

University Education in the UK used to be for the Elites - those whose Families had money - such as those within the Tory ranks nowadays do. Apprenticeships were for the plebs back then.

So now-a-days, when all Job descriptions (Globally) require a Degree... we find that those "Plebs", who ended up becoming Plumbers or Electricians, are now actually earning more than the heads of many Companies who'd spent a lot of time and money upon getting their Degrees... so something needs to be done... right ? Hence the latest Government proposal... to keep the "Plebs" in their place.... tied to menial Jobs within the UK only.

I dislike the current system, it needs to be fairer and open to all of all ages, and rewarding those who choose to take what they've learnt and putting back into the Country without being penalized such as they are at present.

I hate "Snobs", I grew up with them, and tolerated many, but really appreciated those of the more Wealthy Classes who treated the others around them, as normal people, and work with them normally, as too I appreciate everyone else who respects each other for what they can do, without antagonizing or seeking one-up-man-ship upon the other just for the sake of being seen to do so. Politics and Religion - are the Worlds greatest scourges, and will always be so, after that, we only have to look towards ourselves. At University, Education, should not only provide you with the groundings of your Specialist subject, but should also, widen your view upon the World, meeting peoples from other Walks of Life, Religions, Politics, and be without pressure to be associated with any other than the Study to further your own Discipline. The UK was once great there, now... I wonder.