Latest news with #tuition fees
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
University students 'are facing an automatic YEARLY rise in tuition fees'
University students may have to fork out more tuition each year as ministers consider increasing fees to match inflation. The move could lead to fees rising by more than £250 next year to nearly £9,800 and could even exceed £10,000 by 2027. It comes amid fears that universities may go bankrupt without extra funding. The Department of Education is considering rising fees at the start of each academic year in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility inflation forecast, according to The i Paper. Last November, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson increased tuition fees for the first time since 2017, raising fees from £9,250 to £9,535 for students starting in autumn. If the new legislation were to go through, fees could increase by 2.7 per cent, making annual tuition £9,792. Ministers need to get both Houses of Parliament to approve secondary legislation to put up fees. It has been reported that consideration has also been given to changing the law to make the process automatic. As backlash from students is expected, insiders believe that the decision could be accompanied by extra maintenance support. Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, said: 'Tuition fees are now worth only two-thirds of what they were in 2012 because for years universities weren't allowed to increase them to keep pace with inflation. 'The country needs universities firing on all cylinders if it is to get the economic growth everybody wants. That means they need to be funded sustainably with tuition fees linked to inflation year-on-year.' Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank, said: 'Universities are hurting. None has yet gone bust – it doesn't mean they won't.' It comes as cash-strapped universities are set to usher in students who missed their grades on A-level results day, the boss of Ucas has said. Jo Saxton said a 'record number' of students were likely to get their first choice place, even including those that 'near-missed' their grades. It is thought universities are desperate to fill places this year to boost their coffers amid a financial crisis in the sector. On A-level results day on Thursday, the number of students accepted on to UK degree courses hit a record high, with 439,180 applicants gaining a place at a university or college.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Labour fails to rule out annual tuition fee rise to stop universities going bust
The education secretary has said the government is looking at allowing universities to hike tuition fees every year based on inflation to stop them going bust. It comes less than a year after Bridget Phillipson announced that fees would increase in England for the first time in eight years as part of a major overhaul of the higher education system. Tuition fees have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, but in November, it was announced that they would increase in line with the Retail Price Index inflation in September 2025. Asked whether the government would allow universities an inflation-linked tuition fee increase every year to improve their financial situation, Ms Phillipson did not rule it out. She told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'We did give universities an increase through the tuition fee increase that we delivered last year, but we'll be looking at all of these areas around the long-term financial sustainability of universities as part of that post-16 white paper that we'll set out later on this year. 'We do also believe alongside that further reform will be needed, but also working together with other institutions, like further education, to bring education, training opportunities and skills much closer to where people are, including those people – adults, in particular – who might be further away from the labour market.' The remarks – which came on A-level results day – appear to set Labour on course for a clash with one of their biggest voter bases, students, and come despite Sir Keir Starmer's promise to abolish university tuition fees entirely when he stood to be Labour leader in 2020. He rowed back on the pledge in 2023, saying it was no longer affordable as a result of the country's financial situation, instead promising Labour would come up with a 'fairer solution' if it formed the next government. It comes amid growing concern over the state of the education sector, with many universities facing financial crisis. As many as 40 per cent of English universities are expected to fall into a budget deficit this year, a report from the Office for Students (OfS) said. The OfS, which regulates higher education providers, said universities needed "significant reform and efficiencies" to turn the tide, despite some institutions already closing courses and selling buildings to cut costs. It said a drop in international students coming to the UK was the main reason for the worsening financial position. Speaking on Thursday, Ms Phillipson said the government had already taken action to help universities, but that there is more to do. Asked about universities' financial struggles, she told Times Radio: 'I've made it a priority to put our universities on a more sustainable footing. 'The action that we've taken in turning around the regulator, the Office for Students, much more of a focus on universities' financial health, but also the difficult but necessary decision that we took quite early on as a government to increase tuition fees to make sure that universities have a more stable funding stream into the future. 'There is more to do and later on this year we'll be setting out our plans for post-16 education overall, including universities, through a white paper we'll be publishing.' On international students, the education secretary said they made an 'important contribution' to the UK's universities and economy, and 'will always be welcome in the UK'. She added: 'It is also fair to say that some institutions, their business model has allowed them to become too dependent on international students, and therefore too open to any fluctuations that may happen around that.'
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The Mickey Mouse degrees that could damage your career prospects
The cost of university has ballooned. Rising living costs, high interest and longer loan terms means many will never pay off what they owe – and the Government's plans mean the situation will only get worse. Sir Keir Starmer will raise university tuition fees for the first time in eight years to £9,535 from September 2025. The average university degree leaves graduates with £45,600 in debt – but some have risen to more than £230,000. Students going to university this year taking out student loans will be on the 'Plan 5' scheme, introduced last year. They will start repayments once their earnings exceed £25,000 the April after graduation, and could stand to make repayments for up to 40 years. With the significant cost of embarking upon a university degree, it is therefore imperative that students take up a job that can adequately prepare them for the world of work, and help them get a job in the process. In this article, we take a look at some of the worst value for money degrees available, and highlight the ones you should think twice about before applying for. We will cover the following topics: What are Mickey Mouse degrees? 'Mickey Mouse' degrees is a term used to denote certain university degrees that do not prepare graduates for the job market and are looked upon as worthless by would-be employers. The Tories once promised to crack down on so-called 'Mickey Mouse' degrees, shorthand for degree courses that are worthless or irrelevant. Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that the cash saved by scrapping 'rip-off' degrees would be ploughed into funding 100,000 high-skill apprenticeships. Indeed, in its final Budget in March 2024, the Conservative Government announced it would fully fund apprenticeships by paying the full cost of training anyone up to the age of 21, in a move to reduce costs to small businesses and deliver 'more opportunities for young people to kick start their careers'. University degrees might therefore be less tempting, as research has now revealed the degrees that are the worst value for money in 2025, a list which includes academic staples such as Geography. The worst value for money degrees based on earning potential Jobs website Adzuna analysed the career pathways grads of different subjects commonly take after leaving university, and what they could expect to be earning five years into their careers based on current market conditions. The results found the degrees which are the worst value for money, with those on the lowest-ranking course making an average of £23,126 five years after graduation, as shown in the table below. Adzuna's research revealed that photography degrees offer the worst value for money, as graduates earn an average salary of £23,030 five years after graduation. It was followed by courses in criminology (£23,420), geography (£23,445), and translation (£23,498). How 'Mickey Mouse' degrees can lead to a good salary However, some graduates have bucked this trend. Ben Galyas who studied fine arts at Chelsea College of Arts, a constituent of UAL, now earns over £100,000 a year plus bonuses. However, the 30-year-old has not carved out a lucrative living by becoming a professional artist, instead taking a sales job connecting media and tech businesses. But Mr Galyas said 'being able to articulate difficult or intangible concepts is genuinely helpful in business'. He explains: 'Fine art is probably the only degree that's largely discourse-led – very little dictatorial teaching and obviously no exams – which definitely helps in a sales job.' Mr Galyas has not entirely abandoned professional artistic pursuits either, and still has a studio practice through which he has put on shows. He said: 'I think you have to be incredibly self-motivated to get through an art degree. 'I probably do two evenings and one Sunday a week in the studio.' After graduating he found art graduates have very few options for corporate jobs outside of sales – and there are very few entry level jobs in the arts industry for the number of grads being churned out by colleges. How university degrees impact career prospects Adzuna's figures showed 36pc of university degrees do not lead to an average salary above £30,000 within five years – slightly improved from last year's 40pc. It comes as British universities face a funding crisis as the number of international students is falling, with some institutions already making sweeping cost cuts. For the first time, universities have faced a drop in applications for the second year in a row, with teenagers in the northeast especially turning their backs on further education. Figures from the University College Admissions Service (Ucas) show that 40.6pc of 18-year-olds had applied for a place at university, compared to 41.3pc last year and 42.1pc in 2023. In Wales, only 32pc of school leavers applied through Ucas. Liz Emerson, of the Intergenerational Foundation, a think tank, said the stagnation of graduate salaries could make apprenticeships a 'serious consideration' for young jobseekers. '[Adzuna's] figures paint a depressing picture for young graduates,' she said. 'By going to higher education and taking on debt, students did what society told them would bring them a graduate premium. Now it seems that graduates get to keep the debt but not the pay premium promised.'
Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Times
How do student loans work and when do you start repaying?
S tudents who use loans to fund their studies may from September need to borrow more from the government as their universities are poised to increase tuition fees for the first time in eight years. They will be allowed to raise fees to £9,535 for full-time courses in 2025-26 — up from £9,250, and the first permitted rise since 2017-18. Tuition fees for part-time courses can rise to £7,145. Course fees are the same in Wales and Scotland (although Scottish and EU students don't have to pay anything), and are capped at £4,855 in Northern Ireland. Some universities may not charge the maximum, but history suggests that tuition fees tend to be the same across the board. UK nationals who have signed up for an undergraduate degree course can apply for a student loan from the government's Student Loans Company (SLC) to cover their tuition fees in full. They can also apply for a separate student loan to help with living costs. This is called a maintenance loan, and the amount you can borrow depends on where you study, your living situation and your household income. A higher household income means you are eligible for less because your parents are expected to financially support you while you are studying — something worth discussing with them in advance.
South China Morning Post
11-08-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Mainland Chinese schools charging pupils up to 334,000 yuan for Hong Kong DSE
More than 40 schools in five mainland Chinese cities and provinces offering Hong Kong's university entrance exam curriculum charge at least 100,000 yuan (US$13,925) in annual tuition, with fees of as much as 334,000 yuan at one, the Post has found. Advertisement The schools, in Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, also generally charge additional boarding and meal fees that total thousands of yuan each year, according to the institutions. The 45 schools examined by the Post are among 68 that offer Hong Kong's Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) curriculum on the mainland. An increasing number of pupils across the border are taking the city's university entrance exams to apply to higher education institutions in Hong Kong and abroad. One of the most expensive is Yew Chung International School in Beijing, which charges 334,000 yuan in annual tuition, in addition to unspecified fees for school transport, meals, school uniform and extracurricular activities. A student must also pay a non-refundable 2,500 yuan application fee before the vetting process begins. Most other schools charge around 150,000 yuan annually, while some cheaper ones still cost around 120,000 yuan. Advertisement The privately run International Courses Jialian Campus of the public Beijing No 4 High School charges its DSE pupils 200,000 yuan in annual tuition, plus a 38,000 yuan annual boarding fee and meal fees of 80 yuan per day, according to its student recruitment leaflet.
