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Open University Fees
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 2:01PM
As one of the many on here who have studied with the OU I am stunned with their announcement of their new fees.
The maximum study a student can undertake in one year is 120 points - this means they would study for three years to acheive a standard degree. Current fees would be in the region of £700 for a sixty point course hence £1400 for a year.
The new fee from 2012 for 120 points is £5000, a threefold increase.
The majority of those who study with the OU are mature students who have a desire to return to education for many varied reasons. I think this increase, forced on the OU by government changes in higher education funding will result in a large percentage of those mature students dropping their studies or never starting.
Whether the slack will be taken up by school leavers seeing this as a cheaper alternative to traditional university study remains to be seen.
Thoughts?
- Tags:
- university
- open
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 2:46PM
"The new fee from 2012 for 120 points is £5000"
Which is £4,000 less than at a 'real' bricks and mortar University.
A bargain me thinks.
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 3:31PM
A bargain?
- far less tutors and other staff to pay and no campus with buildings to service and maintain.
and
we are not talking in about students who are going to be getting a student loan.
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 3:32PM
No idea why the middle bit is bigger font and tabbed
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 4:02PM
"we are not talking in (sic) about students who are going to be getting a student loan"
Possibly not, but the Student Loan (which is nowhere near £9,000 or even £5,000) is nothing to do with paying for Tuition Fees.
That loan is to pay for their accommodation, travel and other day-to-day expenses whilst living away from home.
The Tuition Fees have to be found from another source.
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 4:12PM
bremner
Is your new course for a hobby or to get qualification for a new career
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 4:53PM
Clapton is God
I suggest that before you post you at least make sure you have the correct facts.
A student loan comprises both accommodation/living AND course fee. My daughter, under the current fees is adding £5000 in accommodation/living and £3250 in course fees to her student loan each year.
sunnystaines
I got my OU degree in 2009 having started courses to exercise my brain. I then got hooked and carried on to a degree. These exceessive fees will prevent many people like myself, from ever going back into education.
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 7:15PM
I was an avid fan of the Open University when it was shown on bbc2 back in the seventies. I think they should rename it..'The door is' Open (if you can afford it) University.
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Posted August 4, 2011 at 12:40AM
bremner
"...far less tutors and other staff to pay and no campus with buildings to service and maintain."
Around 1,200 full-time academics are based at the OU campus in Milton Keynes, and if you think there are no buildings to maintain, think again.
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Posted August 4, 2011 at 6:21AM
FE
I was wrong to say there was no campus, the point I was trying to make was that there is no student campus and the infrastructure to go with it. The MK campus has no undergraduates and only 250 research post graduates. Bristol University for example has 13000 undergraduates with about a third living in University halls.
I comeback to the main point of my post that this stunning increase in fees, irrespective of the reasons, will prevent many potential mature students from returning to education.
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Posted August 4, 2011 at 8:49AM
Bremner
Having put two daughters through University I'm more than aware of the facts, unlike you it would seem.
As I've already said, the basic Student Loan is essentially for accommodation and day-to-day living expenses.
There's a completely separate loan available to students to cover Tuition Fees, if they wish to take it.
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