Guardian UK: The privatisation of higher education is forcing out poorer students

[marmar]

The privatisation of higher education is forcing out poorer students
Tuition fees and the government's marketisation of universities mean that bright working class students will no longer apply

Michael Chessum
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 July 2012


Yesterday, the University and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) announced a sharp drop in the number of university applicants for the first year of £9,000 fees. The official government narrative – that the 9% drop is merely a readjustment for a similar rise in applications for places before the fee rise – is paper thin. In fact, ministers have offered no serious explanation or sense of reflection at all. Most crucially, no analysis has been offered as to who has chosen not to apply, or why.

The reality, as major studies have suggested ever since tuition fees were introduced, is that rocketing tuition fees have pushed bright students from working-class backgrounds away from university.

This is supported by the fact that the biggest drop to occur is among people over the age of 23 – often among the most disadvantaged set of applicants. These mature students are not the Willetts fantasy of "ill-informed" 18-year-olds, failing to understand that debt repayments are income-linked. The fact is that the government is in the process of creating a system driven by consumer choice, in which the rational money-driven decision could be never to apply to university.

The only possible result of this process will be fewer people going to university, or, to put it more accurately, fewer working-class people going to university. For those not fortunate enough to get good grades at a nice secondary school, a degree in some subjects, costing £27,000 before living costs, will result in a net earning loss over your lifetime. Education as a life-enhancing, horizon-broadening experience – even if only inadvertently and in passing – is being snatched away, both by the ideology of the system, and now by debt and post-graduation data. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/10/privatisation-higher-education-working-class-students

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[RainDog]

2. k&r n/t

[DCKit]

3. Austerity... it's the new "prosperity" nt

[dipsydoodle]

4. How does that cost compare with the USA ?

.

[marmar]

5. Just using tuition/room&board for an in-state student at the University of Michigan.....

....... the cost is about $23,000 or so per year, or roughly 14,800 GBP.

[Prophet 451]

6. Just as the Tories wanted

They have always wanted to return to a society where higher education is the luxury of the rich.

Thank the Lord for the Open University (very respectable distance learning institute that gives free tuition and textbooks to the poor). I wouldn't be able to study without them.

[Trillo]

7. So. 10% of bright, working class youngsters won't become part of the liar class.