Considering study with the Open University?

[aclivity]

Mentioned this in another thread, but I thought it may have a wider interest so created a new thread for it. Also, not sure if this is the correct forum but in my experience most people studying at the OU are doing it whilst also at work and improvements in their work situation are part of the driving reasons ...

Anyway, the OU has announced that they are increasing their costs from September 2012 to £5000 for each 120 credits studied, (120 credits is equivalent to a year of full time study, so you could choose to do a full time degree over 3 years for £15000 with the OU) as opposed to the current cost which is something like £1440 for 120 points.

If it's something you have considered doing but not got round to it, then I would recommend that you seriously start looking into starting in the next 12 months - under the transitional arrangements if you sign up for studying a module that starts between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012, and then continue to study every year until 2017 (when the transition arrangements end) you will qualify for the current price for another 5 years.

(Hope this doesn't come across as advertising for the OU, just thought people may be interested).

[Mr Sparkle]

Thanks for the info, that is a big increase in price and I may look at a course sooner.

I wonder how they can justify this increase - may be most of their 'students' are from companies rather than individuals that would find the cost prohibitive.

[aclivity]

Mr Sparkle said:

I wonder how they can justify this increase

Same reason as the main universities are bumping costs up to 9k a year ... removal of government money into tertiary education.

[ClintonB]

Flippant response in some ways but at the same time, you have to wonder about the current state of university finances when this happens:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14387541


I'm sure the Open Uni is desperately in need of the money (not to denigrate the educational abilities of the OU, just the grabbing hunger of pretty much every Uni at the mo').

[tobster]

I'm currently studying and had the email come through this week about the fee increase. As you said , it's for new students only so luckily I'm okay. I don't see how they can justify 5k for 120 points , I've paid 700 quid for 60 points. Why do the OU need to charge that , the majority if not all of their students are distance learning.

[JCW]

I've just started studying with the OU but fortunately my employer is sponsoring my studies so didn't pay much attention to the email; strewth, it's a hell of an increase but a sad reflection of the times.

[Rotary Madness]

TBH if youre looking at studying anything technical, dont. I was doing engineering with them, and stopped before I even finished the 1st year, as it was beyond a joke. The books, and they send you millions of them, are useless. Me and my fellow classmates spent most of our time helping each other and looking up online how to learn anything. The books were just full of page after page of fking waffle, nothing was explained.
Im sure for something like english, or any non-technical subject, itd be a lot better, but personally I felt ripped off. I paid a lot of money for stuff that was useless.

[aclivity]

That probably says more about you and the suitability of the course you chose than about the OU.

It's not just the books, did you use the online materials as well, visit the forums, attend tutorials? It needs effort and commitment from you, its a degree level course and the work is pitched at that level.

[IntegraTypeR]

Rotary Madness said:

TBH if youre looking at studying anything technical, dont. I was doing engineering with them, and stopped before I even finished the 1st year, as it was beyond a joke. The books, and they send you millions of them, are useless. Me and my fellow classmates spent most of our time helping each other and looking up online how to learn anything. The books were just full of page after page of fking waffle, nothing was explained.
Im sure for something like english, or any non-technical subject, itd be a lot better, but personally I felt ripped off. I paid a lot of money for stuff that was useless.

I'm about to to finish my BSc Computing with the OU (only 46 days to go!) and i think the quality of study material has been excellent. This is after 7 years study so i feel i've read more than enough to form this opinion

[tank slapper]

Rotary Madness said:

TBH if youre looking at studying anything technical, dont. I was doing engineering with them, and stopped before I even finished the 1st year, as it was beyond a joke. The books, and they send you millions of them, are useless. Me and my fellow classmates spent most of our time helping each other and looking up online how to learn anything. The books were just full of page after page of fking waffle, nothing was explained.
Im sure for something like english, or any non-technical subject, itd be a lot better, but personally I felt ripped off. I paid a lot of money for stuff that was useless.

Which module did you do? You do realise that you are in fact supposed to learn yourself, and that sometimes you might need to look to external references?

Regards to the fee changes, it was inevitable that it would happen. The OU is funded in the same way as all the other universities, and their funding has been reduced massively. I'm glad that they have put in place the transitional fees though, as it would have left a lot of people unable to continue had they not.

Edited by tank slapper on Saturday 6th August 20:32

[Amateurish]

I've just finished my first module with the OU and I must say I have been very impressed. It was a 30 point Maths course with excellent course materials (albeit the DVD materials presentation seemed very dated), excellent tutors and a good online interface with useful forums. All for £370.

The OU will continue to be excellent value, especially when most universities will be charging £9k pa.