nick venedi

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Creative thinking and the cost of higher education

First of all it is unacceptable that a modern successful society like Britain with huge wealth is making its young people start their working lives with huge debts around their necks. The average student leaving university will have to repay loans up to £70,000 after graduation. In addition a student who is today 22 would expect to work until she/he is 68 before retiring! This isn't right!

Saying all of that we do have a problem with sorting out the deficit this country has and we need to find creative ways to deal with this. I would assume that if the average student today will face a £70,000 bill for their education after doing a 3 year degree it means that they pay £23,300 a year to do this. If we could be creative and reduce the number of years a degree takes to complete from 3 to 2 years and reduce the fees then the same student will be paying £23,000 to £30,000 less to complete their studies.

In addition students here in the UK could be more creative and look at the option of studying elsewhere in Europe where the fees are much lower. A student, for example, who wishes to study in Greece or Germany would only have to pay around £15,000 (if not less) for the entire length of their degree.

And before anyone sends in comments saying that I am supporting the governments obsession with making students pay more I am making it clear that I am not. I am simply looking at the mess we are in and different ways to deal with the fallout.

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