Last week there was a protest at the University of Birmingham regarding the increasing costs of University owned housing. It’s understandable why (as Birmingham Mail said) ‘dozens’ of students were enraged about this, the gut instinct when answering the question “would you like to pay more for something” will always be a resounding no. The problem though is not just addressing the fact that prices are going up, it’s addressing why prices are going up.
The reason for housing prices going up could be for a multitude of reasons and without the University publishing exactly why they are everyone else is just left guessing. Some probably argue that the University just wants to get as much money as they can from students and that students are a captive market. Yes, I respond sarcastically, it’s directly in the University’s interests to annoy their students.
For us to appreciate why certain things cost more within higher education we have to consider the bigger picture; how is higher education funded in England? We have two competing ideas at the moment. Firstly we want anyone with ability to be able to reach higher education, not just from a political perspective in terms of benefiting the economy but also because we feel it to be ‘right’. Secondly, people see finances as a barrier to entry. What’s more is that they are an unfair barrier to entry to higher education, in no way reflecting one’s ability. Clearly there’s an issue; more people want to attend but fewer want to pay. Simultaneously we increase the amount we have to invest in education whilst also reducing the amount we have to invest.
Now is there anything wrong with higher costs for University? Well it depends on a few things. Firstly there needs to be transparency from the outset, so that those aiming to go to University can plan how much it will cost. Secondly, there are arguments saying that it will prevent some from being able to, or feeling that they can go to, University. That can easily be achieved through a more effective and comprehensive scholarship, sponsorship and grant system, funded with increased reliance in alumni donations (something from America already slowly creeping into England) and greater encouragement of private businesses to get involved both from a philanthropic and business view (of ultimately getting good employees). Also necessary would be proper information to prospective students, ensuring that any stereotypes of barriers are quickly dismissed by showing them the array of options.
Ultimately though, the more we invest into our Universities the better they will be. The higher costs that Universities such as Harvard, MIT and Yale can charge are reflected in the value they provide, not only affording high quality teaching, but high quality facilities and resources too. Currently in England though, we get excited about foreign students because they are willing to pay even more than home/EU students (and still comparatively get a good deal compared to the value from Universities in their home countries). As such we are attracting students not for their academic ability, not for their potential to contribute to their chosen disciplines, but primarily because they can and will pay more for being at an English University. Some departments have had to dramatically increase in size because of being able to attract more students willing to pay to compensate for departments who can’t attract enough students. What have we found ourselves with? Universities which have to have double or triple the number of students so that they can get enough money to provide the facilities that they would have provided for the smaller number of students in the first place.
Granted, having to pay more for Universities will still have problems. We would need to ensure that industries and jobs which don’t pay lucrative salaries can be offered and do offer tax breaks and other incentives to ensure that students burdened with debt aren’t put off of them because they can’t pay as much. We would need to ensure there was transparency in the financial reporting of Universities as many students will continue to fear that their money isn’t going towards better lecturers and smaller class sizes but instead going towards the Vice Chancellor’s rather plush office.
In England we need a drastic rethink of how we want to fund higher education. We can’t have loads of people wanting to study but none willing to pay. But based on the fact we are a knowledge economy and rely on highly educated individuals it looks as if we will continue to need more students in higher education. As such that means Universities will have to find more money to finance themselves. And if they can’t get it from tuition fees it’s unsurprising they look elsewhere. At some point though it’s going to have to give, and I, for one, am happy to see tuition fees rise if it leads to a proportional increase in the quality of our currently overstretched Universities.
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