Loans and fees for university

My daughter, who currently lives and studies in France, is preparing her final choices to start university next October in Britain. Tuition Fees will be £9,250 ($12,800) per year meaning she will owe nearly £30,000 when she leaves, not including money she needs for maintenance. The thing is, she can also apply to study at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

Fees there are €183 per year ($223) – it’s really just an administration fee. It has made us seriously consider whether university in the UK is ‘worth it’, whether it represents ‘value for money’ albeit the experience should be a fantastic one and British universities are among the best in the world.

The UK Prime Minister has this week come under pressure. She made a speech detailing her concerns for further education and ways to tackle some of its problems. She was criticised for ‘moving deckchairs on a sinking ship’ and promised no more money from the government. It would be down to universities themselves to sort out their financial problems. Ways to tackle the tuition charges and debt problem could come down to charging lower fees for some courses – particularly humanities’ courses where graduate starting salaries are lower.

UK government promises

The government has promised a wide-ranging review of all further education. Head of the National Union of Students, Shakira Martin, said she was pleased to hear the Prime Minister accepted the fact that the ‘current system is not fit for purpose’ but wanted ministers to commit to investing in students’ futures.

One option would be to look at reducing interest rates on loans which currently stands at 6.1%. Another is to increase support for less-advantaged students from poorer backgrounds.

According to the Student Loans Company, student debt in the UK was approaching £90 billion this time last year, up from around £18 billion a decade earlier. The total sum owed and the way that students pay it back certainly feels out of control. The government’s review will make its findings known in early 2019. Suddenly, Paris feels like a great (and cheap) option…. although the Sorbonne, France’s most celebrated university, is ranked only 293rd in the world.