UK university applications down, as fees rise, by almost 10%

[Technologic]

From:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16787948

University applications from UK students for the first year of higher tuition fees are down by 8.7%, according to figures from the admissions service.
With fees rising to up to £9,000 per year, the impact has been biggest for England's universities - down by 9.9%.
In Scotland, where students do not pay tuition fees, there was a fall of 1.5%.
But Universities UK said the "dip is far less dramatic than many were initially predicting".
The figures published by the UCAS admissions service show that by the 15 January deadline there were 462,507 applications for courses beginning in September.
This represented a 8.7% drop in applications from students in the UK - but an increase in overseas applications meant that the overall figure was 7.4% lower than at the same point last year.
Applications from students from other European Union countries, who would also be affected by the fee hike, decreased sharply - by 11.2%.
But overall figures were buoyed by a continuing increase in applications from outside the EU, up by 13.7%, particularly from countries in the Far East.
There have also been signs of an increase in UK students applying overseas.
Maastricht University in the Netherlands, where fees are £1,500 per year, is reporting a surge in applications.
So far the university says it has received applications from 255 UK students and is forecasting that they will receive 600 applications during the current admissions cycle.
The 1994 Group of research intensive universities said that figures showed that some students "have obviously been wary of applying this year".
The group's chairman, Professor Michael Farthing, said "the uncertainty caused by the government's haphazard approach to reform has not helped".

This is not an attack on the rise in fees because, frankly, it had to happen. We're bankrupt and can't afford it. However, the way the government has handled it, rushing it through and leaving thousands of students without a clue of what's going on was, is an absolute joke. There is a distinct lack of information for students about the changing fee structures and instead they have been forced to rely on scare-mongering from the media. If it had been set out over a longer period, with more information, instead of rushing it through i'm quite sure there would not have been such a large dip in application numbers.

Opinions?

[-:Undertaker:-]

This is good news, this knocks of a portion of those who weren't really serious about going to University - you want an education then you pay for it. A great far too many people in this country expect the state and the government to pick up the tab on everything from education, to healthcare to higher education and so on, which only forces bad services on the rest of us and is in my eyes immoral to make others pay or subsidise for something they will not use or benefit from. I have to say, the only problem I have with the university fees is the fact that no tax cuts have resulted from this, rather the opposite has happened. And although i'm in favour of this change in university fees, I still remain rather annoyed that we're told we need to pay more for university fees when spending on the wars, spending on the EU, spending on foreign aid etc continues to climb - i'm no fan of welfare here there and everywhere, but i'd much rather the money was wasted in this country than in Brussels of Afghanistan.

Lets slash back everything properly and return the money the people earned back to the people themselves, so that they can spend it how they wish as opposed to a mandarin in Whitehall deciding for us.

[FlyingJesus]

I prefer the new fees and loans deal anyway, would far rather pay it back for slightly longer once I'm earning enough to comfortably do so than have it paid off quicker but hardly be able to afford the repayments because the wage threshold is so much lower. And yeah having less people with the same level of qualification is a good thing because otherwise it's just trivialised

[dbgtz]

I prefer the new fees and loans deal anyway, would far rather pay it back for slightly longer once I'm earning enough to comfortably do so than have it paid off quicker but hardly be able to afford the repayments because the wage threshold is so much lower. And yeah having less people with the same level of qualification is a good thing because otherwise it's just trivialised

I agree with this completely. Though as a question to anyone who knows the answer (as I haven't looked into this at all), do you have to pay any interest? I'd guess you do. If so, how much?

[Neversoft]

I agree with this completely. Though as a question to anyone who knows the answer (as I haven't looked into this at all), do you have to pay any interest? I'd guess you do. If so, how much?

You don't have to pay any interest with a student loan.

[Rozi]

You don't have to pay any interest with a student loan.

I was told you would have to by a representative who came to our college
but it was small
definitelysingle figure


Also one thing I'm not clear on - do we get bigger maintenance loans? Because I'd rather not have a bigger one

[Shar]

I was told you would have to by a representative who came to our college
but it was small
definitelysingle figure


Also one thing I'm not clear on - do we get bigger maintenance loans? Because I'd rather not have a bigger one

I don't believe we do but I may be wrong

[Mathew]

What those in the article fail to acknowledge is the fact that last year was simply an exceptional year for UCAS applications. People heard that fees were increasing and therefore got in there before it took affect. If people were planning on going to university, then last year was when people took the plunge and did it. I think it's a poor dig at the government when people say applications are down due to the tuition fees, because that just isn't the case.

I agree with Dan on this issue. If people want to go to university, then they will go regardless of the cost. People are not deterministic, mindless machines that are put off due to a few changes and it's quite insulting to generalise people like that. My personal opinion is that it can only be a good thing that fewer people are applying to university. There are already far too many people attending, and the UCAS system undergoes a crazy amount of strain each and every year. It's a catch 22 situation. All of these people with degrees will be in search of work, which leaves those with just GCSEs stranded. This would arguably create an even larger gap between the rich and poor.

This is one reason why I'm sceptical of increasing the school leaving age from 16 to 18. There's going to be a lot more people with A Levels which means even more people will be attending university. The prestige of a degree could potentially drop which would mean employers must rely even more on masters degrees and degree classifications.

[Chippiewill]

This is good news, this knocks of a portion of those who weren't really serious about going to University

This is perhaps the most important point, so many people go to terrible universities because they think they'll get a good job when actually a decent set of A-levels is worth more.

- you want an education then you pay for it. A great far too many people in this country expect the state and the government to pick up the tab on everything from education, to healthcare to higher education and so on, which only forces bad services on the rest of us and is in my eyes immoral to make others pay or subsidise for something they will not use or benefit from.

I have to agree, I think by going to university on average you earn about £150k more than if you don't, people shouldn't pretend that they'll be stuck with a debt forever.

I have to say, the only problem I have with the university fees is the fact that no tax cuts have resulted from this, rather the opposite has happened. And although i'm in favour of this change in university fees, I still remain rather annoyed that we're told we need to pay more for university fees when spending on the wars, spending on the EU, spending on foreign aid etc continues to climb - i'm no fan of welfare here there and everywhere, but i'd much rather the money was wasted in this country than in Brussels of Afghanistan.

Whilst I personally wouldn't expect a tax break I would definitely expect them to cut everywhere if they're going to all the trouble of upsetting so many students.