[SystemSafety] UK University Fees

[Nikita Johnson]

It's not often that I feel qualified to contribute to information-sharing
on this list - From the perspective of a relatively recent graduate who
spent £3,000 per year for a UK engineering degree, the current government
policies seem ridiculous, unfair and contrary to everything that has
previously been achieved to make tertiary education accessible to people
from diverse backgrounds.

Many 18-year-olds are a lot more concerned with their future than the media
would have us believe. When choosing a university I did perform something
of a cost-benefit analysis that took into account the course ranking,
long-term career prospects and how long it would take to pay off the debt.
Student loans are very much real money! In addition, I considered other
"social & wellbeing" factors which meant I was disinclined to study abroad
for free because the transition to university was already so big.

Issues like the lack of funding for labs are a big problem, but what's more
concerning is the fact that many students may not even start an engineering
degree in the first place, and opt for another career path that doesn't
have quite so much debt. Abstracting the general case from my particular
experience raises questions about what will happen with recruitment for
STEM subjects at university which have already seen shortages nationally,
and had an impact on the economy in the past.

> the UK Government really needs a bit of a kick to help them realise that
with their meddling over the years they have probably done untold damage
to the system at all levels.

The primary concern is that the policies that are being put into place have
complex and severe negative consequences that can't be reversed easily (if
at all).

Regards,

Nikita Johnson


On 1 June 2016 at 18:08, <paul_e.bennett at topmail.co.uk> wrote:

> On 01/06/2016 at 4:52 PM, "Peter Bernard Ladkin" <
> ladkin at rvs.uni-bielefeld.de> wrote:
>
> [%X]
>
> >UK school-leavers haven't yet realised that they could go do a
> >year in Berlin, a year in Paris, a
> >year in Brussels and a year in Delft, in English, and come out
> >with an engineering degree from one
> >of Europe's top tech universities, for no fee. Or go spend £27,000
> >of their future earnings in sunny
> ><name your favorite Russell-Group uni>. As I said in the blog
> >post, 18-year-olds can't do
> >cost-benefit analyses. If they ever do figure it out, with or
> >without some help, the current British
> >tertiary-education model could be quickly down the drain.
>
> One of the many reasons I am hoping for a sensible decision on
> June 23rd. I agree that doing a CBA for these youngsters should
> show them how to get the best education they deserve. I am
> already trying to pass such a message on in my talks to kids in
> my role as a STEM Ambassador.
>
> Regards
>
> Paul E. Bennett IEng MIET
> Systems Engineer
>
> --
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> Paul E. Bennett IEng MIET.....<email://Paul_E.Bennett@topmail.co.uk>
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-- 
*Nikita Johnson*

Postgraduate Researcher (PhD)
High Integrity Systems Engineering
Computer Science, University of York

e: nlj500 at york.ac.uk
m: +447931 999 168
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