Dear all,
I am sure no-one has missed the passing of the sharp increase in tuition fees in the UK. If so, here is a short re-cap ,with some interesting pictures of the royalties...
My question is, how will this affect the demographics of the UK student-body?
Considering the fact that the price of education is virtually nonexistent in nearby countries (accessible by 5 euro Ryanair tickets), will masses of less privileged UK students flow to Scandinavia and the continent, and if so, who will be enrolled at Uni in the UK?
Looking forward to hear your ideas,
Best,
Siri
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While I do not see a lot of Brits here in Copenhagen, several friends in Germany have told me that there is a small minority of British students at their university, who is on the run from high tuitions - so I guess that the increase will drive some people abroad.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that the deciding factor is culture, not economics. Economically, the effect of tuitions should be almost inobservable: In the vast majority of cases, the higher lifetime earnings of an academic will pay back the tuitions several times over, and there is no problem in establishing a market for risk-averse students to insure themselves against low earnings despite good grades (since the benefits of earning a lot outweigh those of leisure even if some percentage of it goes to paying off your tuition debt).
So I do not see how individual economic concerns can explain the strong reaction to raises in tuition - after all, Germany could raise tuition levels for decades before reaching US levels, and we do not observe many Americans studying abroad to save money. In other words: Yes, the increases will have an effect, but mostly because students feel strongly about it, and because it is not generally accepted in Europe that one has to indebt oneself for the children's education, and because education is considered somewhat more of a human right and a public good than for example in the US.
Particularly about tuition fees: I see Ole's point: economic theory argue that it wouldn't make a difference, assuming there are perfect forward markets and no credit constraints (c.p.)
ReplyDeleteThe more serious point however is that universities are facing draconian budget cuts, which will eliminate 6000 student places (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8491729.stm) affect capital and research spending, supervisor-student ratios and increase demand for oversee students (the ones paying three-times what EU and UK students are paying). Some smaller universities may go down, others may become more private funding-oriented.
Since more people applied to universities in the UK at the beginning of this year (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8456852.stm), offering even less student places could affect unemployment of young people in the short run. Humanities are said to be most adversely affected...
I don't doubt that these changes would affect young people's decision to go to university, yet I doubt there would be a significant increase in student migration to Scandinavia. More importantly higher education is becoming less accessible to the less privileged.
http://scienceisvital.org.uk/
Have you seen Good Will Hunting? Remember when Matt Damon (Will) tells the Harvard student "You dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you could of gotten for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library"? And that movie came out in 1997..
ReplyDeleteNow with all the resources of the internet and many reputable universities filming and uploading lectures online, isn't information more accessible then ever? Of course, attending college still is very valuable for many reasons (meeting other dedicated students, making new friendships, learning from great professors, etc.) but at the same time, I feel as though more and more, what you are paying for is more kind of a 'proof' that you are intelligent or hardworking for future employers..
I agree with Velichka that the rising tuition fees are becoming a barrier for the less privileged. Many obstacles already face those who must struggle for an education growing up in a worse school distract, poorer household, or bad environments but these challenges can be overcome with hard work and determination. But high tuition may just disrupt a competitive environment for the applicant pool of a university and ultimately, just act as a filter giving admission not to the most talented but the most fortunate.
So my idea is not applicable for US citizens going elsewhere, US citizens do not have the same rights as intraeuropean student-movers. For instance, because UK is in the EU, UK students can go to Sweden, France, Germany and so forth for virtually no fees. However US citizens are regarded as aliens and would therefore still be paying and not enjoy the same benefits as EU students.
ReplyDeletePrior to the development of sharp increases in UK tuition, Scandinavian universities started to teach almost all their master courses in English and a majority of undergrad courses are available in English too.. I found myself in a seminar once 2006, where some members of the committee selecting the Nobel prize winners were moaning over how university would lose Swedish as a working language...
Regarding the expected lifetime earnings, I see your point, however, I don't think that a student with a masters/phd from the royal institute of technology in Sweden or the Stockholm school of economics is looking at a significantly smaller wage when going back to the uk, sure this could be naive but still..
So in conclusion, I do think there is going to be a shift in the student-body also due to the fact that there is an extremely strong demand for study places in the UK/US. The question is whether or not the universities even have to listen to the students protest, because they could just fill up their spots with students from other parts of the world that are more than happy to pay the fees..Which leads me to Velichkas point, student migration is gradual, for instance when I started at HU there were like 2 Scandinavian students, now we are about 5 Swedes in my HGB lecture alone, not that this holds any statistical significance, but I do think that once a few students start moving word is spread and other go too..
Either way, these cuts in education seem terrible and really unwise, what happened with the whole doctrine of making Europe a "knowledge based green economy" I mean that will hardly be achieved by forcing students to icy Sweden :P and making Latin American students pay exorbitant fees for giving them an education they are most likely to use back home!!
BTW check this out:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/mar/06/university-europe-no-debt