Uk university tuition costs to hit £36,000

As if it wasn't bad enough that there are proposals to reduce UK degrees from 3 to 2 years, that there is a shortfall of government funding to the tune of more than 30% over the current government's term in office, and that the quality of education is suffering with large intakes of foreign, mostly Chinese, students with the concomitant drop in standards.

Now we find that the costs of UK degrees are set to spiral out of control to the tune of £36,000 for a typical three-year degree course!!

"Virtually all taxpayer funding will be removed from the majority of degrees and students will have to borrow tens of thousands of pounds to cover the doubled cost of courses. Universities will have to charge at least £7,000 a year to cover the loss of central government funding and some elite degrees are expected to cost up to £12,000 a year."

These are understood to be the key findings from a long-awaited review of university funding conducted by Lord Browne, the former head of BP. But you have to ask yourself why anyone would send their kids to a uni in the UK any more when there are far more attractive options elsewhere in the European union?

I predict a mass exodus of undergraduates spreading their money around the European union and it will hurt the UK economy even more at a time when every pound is need domestically to be spent at home! Again this is just another example where the UK government is displaying remarkable shortsightedness(a recurrent theme on this blog if you wish to read more on this topic).

What is happening to the UK education system?

This is going to make the UK education system a laughing stock around the world. According to the headline (click on the title to read the article) the UK education system is in freefall - "Universities face 'biggest cuts since Great Depression."

Vice-chancellors have been warned that funding may be slashed by 35 per cent over the next five years, it has emerged. The warning – delivered in a series of meetings between Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, and university bosses – would represent the biggest cut in resources since the 1930s, it is claimed. It would be equivalent to the current £5,441 annual Government subsidy for each student being reduced to just £3,537.

Universities said the reduction would have devastating consequences for higher education in England – jeapordising the sector’s world class status. Many universities will seek to make savings by axing loss-making courses, closing libraries, cramming more students into lectures and failing to repair crumbling buildings. It is also likely to lead to an increase in the number of foreign students who can be charged much higher fees than British undergraduates.

How can a country as well developed and with a thriving education sector known throughout the world as "world class" be so shortsighted as to reduce the funding for higher education by a whopping 35%? The repercussions will be devastating and further erode the economic status of the UK which is already close to seeing a double dip recession.

This is on top of the reports that many 3-year degrees will be reduced to a 2-year program. You have to wonder where this is all leading - a surveillance state with more cameras than anywhere else in the world and with an education system that is going to the dogs!!

This is a very sad day for anyone coming through the educational system in the UK and who will be looking to get a good education. Not since the Great Depression has there been such widespread cuts in public funding.