About 3 years ago university fees were free. Then they rose to about £3000. And today they are about £9250. In today’s society, achieving a degree is crucial to get a reasonable, well-payed job. However, with the excruciating amount having to be payed to attend university, it is getting harder and harder for young people to achieve what they want to achieve. How are students expected to go to university when they have to pay these ridiculous amounts?
Students and their parents feel like they have been unfairly treated by having to pay the bulk of their higher education costs themselves. Under the 2017 system, the average debt for students is over £50,000, with students from the lowest income families averaging nearly £60,000. Adding to this, students that live far away, (possibly in a foreign country), will have to get accommodation on campus. This means that they will also have to pay for food, essentials etc. On the other hand, those who have to commute to university everyday have to pay extortionate amounts to use public transport. I interviewed nineteen year old Alexander Solly who studies BSC Finance at City University. I asked him how much he spends on travel and he responded “If it’s an oyster it is £12 a day, I buy monthly travel cards which are £145 every month, even with a student discount!” This is on top of the £9250 for his course.
This is very worrying as students that are high-achieving and are capable of doing more difficult jobs but come from a poor background, are less likely to attend university.
An alternative can be to take a student loan. This is when a student going to university has to take on debt to pay for their course. A maintenance student loan is when students need extra money as they are staying on campus, (this would pay for rent of accommodation,food etc). There is also a standard loan which is just for the university fee.
Some courses can take multiple years, therefore students have to find accommodation elsewhere. The majority of students will move into a shared house. In many cases, the landlord can tend to be very unfair and sell students a house with problems, such as: broken doors, mould or leaks. Now the only money students have left is wasted on property in bad condition.
