Poll: YOUNG ENGLISH PEOPLE: Will you go to university?

[Joe Deadman]

I'm veering towards no but I am going to an open evening for a course tomorrow.

So it's more of a maybe but probably not.

But yeah I guess i'll finish my college course first and then see what's what.

Not sure where I would get the money from though, i've got a bit stored away that I guess I could put in but thats no where near enough, in the end I guess it would be down to asking friends and family and I don't see that going too far either.

 

[googleback]

I'll be studying drama if I go at the end of the year, I only want to go because I want to be in london where the auditions are. But the plan is to get working beforehand so I don't have to. its going well because I met with an agent today and he agreed to take me on! Great success!

I do game design as a hobby but my experience as an amateur film maker (REALLY AMATEUR, but its made me very resourceful) has taught me what you need and what they teach you at game design school, the communication part, the teamwork and above all, cheating.

check out the Extra credits on becoming a games designer, its pretty much what i've picked up over the few years i've been indie'ing it up. I've been doing student short films for the last few weeks and when they say "90% of acting is waiting around" they aren't lying, so I bought an M11x and have been doing game design when I'm off or not on camera. its really working for me but I have no life to speak of currently haha.

Here's to the future!

 

[googleback]

I find it amazing how many people just plain don't understand that as a country we just don't have enough money to fund things like this. I was watching a panel show a few weeks ago where a Tory spokesman just bluntly said 'we're broke, we can't just pull money out of our arse because it'd be nice'. Well, words to that effect.

That Tory probably got bollocked for saying that, you never say that your country is broke. At least there's one guy who isn't afraid to say it how it is though.

He was considerably more diplomatic and cagey, but the basic message was 'money is tight'.

it just is.... its a shame.
These protests didn't help matters did they? I feel sorry for the police caught up in that. I know its their job but they'll have kids who are going to be hit by this as well. its not like they're the helghast or something. Those who are rioting are a bunch of fucking attention seekers who want an excuse to kick off

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Come to the US! We need more English people over here!

How much does it cost to go to a university in the US?

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/4494.html

 

[Mike Laserbeam]

I will be attending university (provided I get in) and I'll be ok monetarily fees won't be raised for my year. Good times!

My sister 1 year younger than me? She's screwed.

 

[thecasuallemon]

The fact that most people seem to forget is that the student loans company WILL STILL pay for your university fees and living costs as they do now. As with the current system they will pay the university and give you a maintainance loan that you will have to pay back after your degree program has finished and when you start earning a certain amount of money a year.

 

[Slacko]

I graduated with £16,000 of debt. Under the new system it would be more like £30-40,000 - but its all student loans company and therefore low interest rates and only a 9% of your earnings over £15,000. And I'll earn £30-40,000 in a year because I have a degree (though this doesn't apply to every degree - people with art degrees apparently earn less than non-graduates lol), so it isn't that much in the grand scale of things.

 

[TelHybrid]

I'm planning to start my degree this September. It means more debt once I start working, but it's still an experience I want to have.

On the plus side, my first year won't have increased fees at the very least.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

No maybe answer? Come on! Middle ground ftw.

 

[KLJT]

Free tuition was brought in under the labor government in the late forties when BRITAIN WAS THE POOREST IT HAS EVER BEEN, we just need the perspective to see that creating a smarter country that focuses on science, philosophy and technology (usually low paying jobs) as they create truly financially stable countries like Germany instead of focusing making people in bankers and similar professorial areas as look where that got us and raising tuition fees just encourages such a policies

We're broke. No focus on specific university courses is going to fix that. Making universities free again isn't going to fix the balance of trade deficit. Arguing over university costs is futile when you look at these sorts of things as a broad overview.

The Tories have a shot at fixing the country, I say give them a chance. They probably won't come back into power after this stretch, heck they might not make the four years, but as long as they're doing something then we can only hope that it works and predict whether it will or not.

I find it amazing how many people just plain don't understand that as a country we just don't have enough money to fund things like this. I was watching a panel show a few weeks ago where a Tory spokesman just bluntly said 'we're broke, we can't just pull money out of our arse because it'd be nice'. Well, words to that effect.

That Tory probably got bollocked for saying that, you never say that your country is broke. At least there's one guy who isn't afraid to say it how it is though.

Again i realize we are broke and yes universities are in dire help but we just put 210 million into sound proofing a train line and near 20 billion for 2 weeks of sport and no i don't completely hate Tories, Blair introduced the dam tuition fees. the problem is that in the short term it helps but in the long run it will just lead back to same place in 15 years or so. Back to Germany twice they have been completely broke and both times through focusing on hard industry for the unskilled workers and academics for the skilled it has twice become the most powerful nation in Europe (not promoting Nazis here, just in case you thought i might be). Too answer the question of this thread i shall be going to university but only because i have lived in Scotland for 4 years meaning i get it free any way, proving the debt aspect is course for little bias from me, i just think its a bad idea. in response to the chart look at the figures after the war (we were far beyond what we are at the moment) and then look at how we created the NHS, free education and completely rebuilt the country

 

[C95J]

I'm 15, and I am really not sure. I have looked at many other options as well, but until the fees go down, it will have to be either going abroad, or just not going to uni for me.

The choice is even harder for me since I have NO idea what to do when I am older. I am going to sixth form for the two years, who knows, maybe things will change by then. And with EMA currently scrapped, it makes it even harder for young people to make money aside from a part time job.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Snip.

Little bastard. I couldn't help but chuckle to see that you're Scottish and get to go to uni for free anyway.

While it's a different matter entirely and I probably shouldn't argue this here, I will. Germany managed to get out of it's two economic depressions because of heavy aid from the USA in the forms of the Dawes Plan and the Young plan and then from a mix of questionably helpful policies and war.

Note: The little bastard at the start is the friendly kind of abuse, the playful sort. I mean no offence in it.

 

[bobdonkey]

Yes, I'm going this year. The raised fees won't affect 2011 entrants at all, so I really don't give an f-word about them. Student solidarity? What of it?

However, if they were going to affect me I'd still go. Sure the extra debt sucks, but the average extra earnings of graduates over their lifetime easily covers it, even for the less (in terms of money) "valuable" degrees. At the end of the day, I was going to have debt anyway, and the extra £9000-12000 wouldn't hurt too much more across the rest of my entire life.

Moreover, I dispute that these fees will deter poorer students more than the hated middle-classes. I'd call myself lower-middle class (household income of parent is around £30k), and I'm not getting a penny of support from my mum. She's made that utterly clear. I have to live frugally and try to accumulate as little debt due to living costs as possible. I will end up with exactly the same amount of debt as a poorer student doing the same course at the same Uni and end up with the same starting point as a graduate, and I still intend to go. Sometimes I feel it's all to easy to underestimate the disadvantaged, to see them as babies in need of constant nurturing.


In general I try to keep an open mind and respect the convictions of others, but when I see students crowding out the streets, preventing other citizens from shopping and getting the economy moving (see how I romanticised that there? Are you doing your part for the British economy?!), I can't help but think.... "Bloody students."

 

[Fawcks]

The new fees will make no difference to you. I went to Uni 5 years ago and could not afford the fees. You know what I did? Like everyone else I took out a student loan.

You can do the same and it makes no difference how much your Uni charges.

I'm surprised how much I'm hearing this: "Just take out a loan, you'll be aiiight" stuff.

Not everyone is gung-ho about taking out a huge loan (I currently have almost 20,000$ in student loan debt from classes in America), and yeah. It's pretty crushing.

 

[Actual]

The new fees will make no difference to you. I went to Uni 5 years ago and could not afford the fees. You know what I did? Like everyone else I took out a student loan.

You can do the same and it makes no difference how much your Uni charges.

I'm surprised how much I'm hearing this: "Just take out a loan, you'll be aiiight" stuff.

Not everyone is gung-ho about taking out a huge loan (I currently have almost 20,000$ in student loan debt from classes in America), and yeah. It's pretty crushing.

I'm guessing it's different in America then, here in England a student loan has zero impact on your life once you graduate. It takes a very small percentage from your monthly wage, around £20-£40 for an average earner. And does not affect your credit rating in any way.

My current outstanding student loan is £9,000 it would make no difference to my life if this number was £100,000 unless the terms of the loan changed.

 

[Jack Macaque]

Try Cuba, it's free there.

I'm not planning on going because I don't see a point in wasting all that money, getting a degree that takes 4 years, then starting a crap wage job and working my way up.

Join the army with my apprenticeship, work my way to officer by them paying for my tuition and sending me to Military college, so I can save myself time, save 4 years of my life, and still make money the whole time, and at the end of the day, I'm better off than someone who went to university in the first place.

 

[Susurrus]

KLJT: I think you're missing a crucial point - I've just spent two years trying to get a job (got one now, woo for me) in the business sector. There are nowhere near enough jobs for the amount of graduates coming out - it's completely ridiculous.

Indeed, on my professional skills course, there are 1500 students. There are 20 people in my class. 3 of them have jobs to go to after they complete, the others are... hopefuls. Sure, some of them will get jobs between now and finish, but given that all jobs available for start at the end of the course were filled in July, its clear that there are too many - especially as next year brings a similar amount in.

Also, your anger is misplaced - the student loan has always existed, is tied to income, and is payable AFTER tuition. It's not a pro-Tory policy, because everyone has the same money to pay, and they've done their very best to ensure that access ISN'T restricted.

Access to the professions is far more restricted by the professional skills courses, which, as graduate courses, have no student loan available, and are already charging fees higher than those proposed for undergraduate courses. THAT'S where the barrier is.

Also: whilst yes, in one sense, someone with a Chemistry degree not working in the chemistry field has no more job-relevant skills than someone who did "Knitting in the 19th Century", what they do have is a degree that is more highly-regarded, both as being more academically rigorous, and a traditional university subject (meaning standards fluctuate less, and businesses are more familiar with the kind of level the student is operating at).

EDIT: Actually, I thought we had established that Britain is now the poorest it has ever been? Not after WW2.

 

[irani_che]

yes
but these are the same idiots who are doing a degree because a) it is easy b) i felt like it and c) i wanted an excuse to drink and smoke weed for 4 years straight on free money.
serously though, If you do not have a sweet job and are raking in the cash after you got a degree you are a total screw up in life