Go to Uni! Be crippled by debts! (Higher Education - Free for all or Fee for all?)

Name: tgoldring

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Product:	Higher Education - Free for all or Fee for all?
Date:	09/02/02 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Source of money available

Disadvantages: Huge debts, Unfair

This is my rant about the atrocious state of finances in higher education; it is something that I find completely unacceptable for young people today.

I am 17 years old and taking my AS level exams in the summer; within a year I shall be applying for a university. However, the debts that I shall run up with at uni are likely to be huge - the average student in 2003 is (calculated by the government) going to land up with a £15,000 debt. Much of this is owed to the Student Loans Company, a company the Conservative government set up in the early 90s when the previous government began reducing the amount grants were worth.

For those who are not aware of how the finances work in uni, let me explain: a student must pay 2 main costs - tuition fees and maintenance costs. 'Maintenace costs' cover everything other than tuition fees, i.e. accommodation, food, clothes, books etc. The tuition fees are paid (for UK students) by their local education authority with a grant. The maintenance fees are paid for by... the student. Yep, at the ripe old age of 18, young people are expected to cough up about £4,000 a year.

Obviously, this is unrealistic for many people, and so they must take out a loan. And this is where the Student Loan Company comes in - they will lend the student £3815 a year (£4,700 in London). If you do the maths, this comes out as a £11,445 debt to the Student Loans Compnay at the end of uni. But generally students go bankrupt, and so take out a very high interest bank loan. All in all, this is where the £15,000 loan figure comes from.

So, a 21 year old leaves uni with a huge debt to pay. This is unacceptable. When you begin working for the first time, no one wants to see their hard earned cash dissappearing to the Student Loans Company. When you begin working, you should be looking forward, not looking behind you at that montainous debt.

The government argues that because people who go to uni earn more than someo
ne who has not been to uni, then dumping a huge debt onto them is OK. I believe that this is rubbish. Yes, they may earn more, but then uni is (for the most part!) no stroll in the park - a good degree is hardly easy to get. Therefore if someone works hard and earns a good degree, I feel it is unfair to make them pay the huge cost, just because they will earn more in the future. They worked hard for the money, but not so they could just lose it straight away to the Student Loans Company.

The government should, in my opinion, provides grants for both tuition fees AND maintenance costs. Mr. Blair talks about wanting more people in uni, but this simply does the opposite - no one wants a huge debt aged 21, and so they may be put off from going to uni in the first place.

The Lib.Dems. have put forward a policy of making the cost of attending uni free - its time the Labour gov't did the same. It may not be in time to affect me, but young people in general do not deserve to have such a huge penalty to pay so early in life.

Thomas

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