# Ever feel like you've been cheated?



## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

Ugh, the middle class will never go to uni if this is introduced! England will be a country of illiterates!http://www.studentuk.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?...dateformat=%25o -%25b-%25h[/URL] top-up fees: ever get the feeling you've been cheated? "It is reasonable to expect a private contribution from those students who can afford to make it."So says chief executive of Universities UK, Diana Warwick in a letter to new education secretary, Charles Clarke. This loosely translates as:ï¿½Weï¿½re going to squeeze those middle class bastards until their eyes bleed.ï¿½Welcome to the birth of two-tier university education, currently masquerading under the nice ï¿½nï¿½ friendly sounding title of ï¿½top-up feesï¿½.Having ensured that the average student leaves uni between ï¿½10K and ï¿½12K in debt, the powers that be want to prize the lid off university fees, which are currently capped at an already hefty ï¿½1,100.(Itï¿½s worth noting before we go any further that Messrs T Blair, C Clarke and chums specifically pledged not to do this in their 2001 election manifesto.)ï¿½Eliteï¿½ universities, like Imperial College, London, have already started the bandwagon rolling by publicly backing plans to charge fees as high as ï¿½10,500.Naturally, Baroness Warwick says that students whose parents arenï¿½t minted to the gills will need to be protected in the brave new world of stratospherically expensive fees.Which isnï¿½t exactly the point. The very richest and the very poorest will be catered for. Currently, half of all university students donï¿½t pay the first red penny of their fees.Itï¿½s the unfortunate suckers in the middle whose parents are neither especially well off or especially badly off who will be priced out of the market. Or as the Baroness puts it: ï¿½Any increases would need to be confined to those who already make a contribution.ï¿½How are families that are already feeling the strain going to cope if they want their son or daughter to go anywhere other than South Eltham University (formerly World of Leather, Chichester Way Relief Road)?Families should be encouraged to save up. Student Loans could give you ...errrï¿½ bigger loans. Your parents might get some tax breaks. Santa Claus may really exist.So top-up fees mean more debt for you and your parents and the promise of some illusory, ï¿½maybeï¿½ tax relief. Break out the Bolly, dahling, weï¿½re all off to uni.To her credit, Baroness Warwick goes on to say, "there is a real danger that damaging unforeseen consequences could emerge later ï¿½ [unless] ï¿½ important feasibility work has been carried out".Not that this has ever stopped the suits before, of course.StudentUK 11th-Nov-Nov


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## slammjamminlammy (Sep 10, 2001)

yuck! you are turning into the US, which (trust me, as someone who lives here) usually isn't a good thing. (ok, we have our good points, and I'm proud of our governing theory, but right now...) My uni. which is private, has the following fun-filled fees:Tuition and Fees: $25,730 Room and Board: $9,600 at state schools, I think if you are a resident Tuition is about $4,000 and room and board about $9,000 (I checked the University of California - Los Angeles web site, someone who goes to a state school correct me if I'm wrong)


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## WaveyR (Jul 22, 2002)

(can't think of anything constructive to say, just thought I'd rant a bit).This sucks. My older brother is a finalist. He's only got ï¿½100 of his overdraft left to last him until the next loan installment comes in January. Thats after he worked full-time last year. If these top-up fees had been in place when we started, neither of us would be at uni.Even without top-up fees, I'm going to be about ï¿½20,000 in debt by the time i finish. (5 year course, doing the 1st year for a second time because of IBS).Bah!Wavey


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## DaniB (Sep 5, 2002)

Answer!!!Come to the NUS march in London on the 4th December! Its a great atmosphere and we get to be productive over the whole issue.Wavey-There are coaches going down to London from loughborough and we get the afternoona dnevening in London to do what we want...Im suppposed to be organising it for Butler court!I think we should just have a tax or something for after we finish our degrees, if we do something like teaching or nursing etc then the tax would be less blah blah...encourages all classes to go to universities and there is no prejudice. Why is the government so slow at doin something about it?Did you know that the ï¿½1100 we pay doesnt actually go to our university directly?? The governement plays arond with it before universities get a chance to see it.grrrrrrrrrDaniXXXXX


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## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

Its just so stupid all this they are trying to introduce. There will be uproar! you darn straight i will be right up there with yOU!


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## kyestar (Nov 26, 2001)

My fees are about $2000 per subject. BUT we don't have to pay upfront - it gets taken out of our income like tax, when we earn over a certain amount. Sounds like the system is really unfair, Nikki.







You'd think they'd make it easier for people to afford education, not harder.


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## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

Yay Keyester! You came to say hi!The system is very unfair. The politicians that benefitted the most form free education are the ones taking it away! Grrr...


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## DaniB (Sep 5, 2002)

You know Tony Blair is a hypocrite...His family couldnt afford tuition for private education but he got into a private school because he had an assisted place (Where the government pays for private tuition if you cant afford it)...The silly man took away assisted places as soon as he came into power...My brother cant go to a private school now but I did so hes kinda jealous.Wander what would have happened if Tony Blair hadnt got that free private education??I thought the Labour party was supposed to be against elitism..the private schools are now far more elite as the working class cant send their kids there!!Just to add a point!!DaniXXXXX(Not sure who would be a good PM for england)


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