Higher Education fees - what happens next?

There’s a lot of debate over higher education fees at the moment – well, that’s putting it mildly. I know I’m in the business so probably hear more about it but seriously, even for the average man-on-the-street … you’d have to be living in a cave with a blanket over your head and turnips in your ears to have missed it. £9000 per year tuition fees; burdens of debt; education only affordable by the elite etc. etc.

I just did a Google search on the phrase “Higher Education Fees”; the first page of results produced the following headlines:

• Tories' higher education policy favours rich
• Tuition fees rise will mean fewer university entrants, warns LSE study
• Universities' plea over tuition fees
• Fees 'crushing' students' dreams
• Pay as you learn

A poll on this website reveals 30% of participants looking at viable alternatives to higher education (although not discounting university) while a staggering 25% see university as out of reach for them now – no longer an option. That’s quite a disturbing set of figures and, although it only represents a tiny number of respondents, a trend of thought that we as a country can only suffer by.

I am not advocating higher education as the only route to a decent career/future – at City College Norwich we offer a range of equally effective, equally valuable routes; apprenticeships (receiving a huge boost off the back of the unpopularity of higher education), vocational qualifications, professional courses etc. I am, however, an advocate of choice – and to see people believing they do not have a choice around their educational routes when they live in one of the most prosperous and developed countries of the 21st Century is deeply disturbing.

I am very happy that our College has chosen to go with the most affordable course fees it can manage (£5999 per year) and that we encourage students to look at the full range of provision available – did you know that a Foundation Degree takes only two years, is a great route into vocational specialism and work-based skills, and that you can top-up to a full honours degree with another year’s study at a later date in most cases? But I worry about the perceived lack of choice that others are having.

I’m interested in what others think, what you think; are the fees something that would stop you considering higher education? Are you considering alternative routes? Does paying back the money that society lends you to study seem inappropriate? Should all education be free to the consumer?

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment, perhaps together we can add some new viewpoint to the debate.

Harry Greiner's Blog