Coughlan, S. (2010) Students face tuition fees rising to £9,000 a year BBC News Education and Family, November 3
The UK government is more or less passing on the whole cost of undergraduate education to students and their parents, in today’s announcement by Universities’ Minister David Willett, who called this ‘a progressive reform.’ The BBC web site provides some very useful analysis of the implications of this news – for instance, will this create a market for cheap degrees or will all institutions gravitate to the highest fee? (I know where my money lies on this bet).
The UK of course has a massive deficit, and is cutting everything in sight. However, this is just a means of transferring debt from the general taxpayer to students. It will be interesting to see what this does to the quality of education, and the economic future of the UK. And will this policy cross the Atlantic to Canada and the USA?
What are your views on this?
This is not just an abstract issue for me: my grandchildren and nieces are English, so any donations will be much appreciated (just kidding).
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
