Kids getting ripped off at Uni

[Byker28i]

We 'rescued' our lad from Swansea Uni in March as lockdown started and he completed last of his three years from home. We went back after the first three weeks was extended and emptied his rented accommodation and gave the key in, taking photos of the spotless house.

Now he's doing a Masters at Bath and it's all at home. He was offered 4 hours a week on a specific day of face to face - went in the first week for it and there were no tutors in, very few staff and everything was locked up, the libraries, labs etc.

So he's back working from home, all his lectures etc are recorded so he can watch them multiple times if required, or at his own pace/time.

University hasn't been about education for some time. It's just a business now so is all about the money.

[TurboHatchback]

Yes I think it is a pisstake. The fees are simply absurd for the majority of courses, even when I was at university paying £3k a year I remember one girl I lived with who had a grand total of three contact hours a week studying sociology. £9k a year is ridiculous and it is criminal that they can continue to charge this whilst not providing any of the service that is being paid for. Given the students are basically unaffected by covid I don't begrudge them in the slightest having parties and enjoying themselves, why should they listen to a government that has been progressively shafting them for years at every opportunity and that none of them voted for.

Also student debt is most certainly real debt. Yes there are caveats around repaying it but I get over £170 taken out of my pay packet every month and this will continue until I'm nearly retired so it is a large burden on your future earnings.

[John145]

Pothole said:

Student debt financial "burden" is mostly a myth:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student...

This type of flippancy is fking bks.

Get a degree to get a proper job (ie one that pays significantly more than the national average) and pay 9% of your salary for the rest of your life.

Is that the same 9% that would've gone to saving for a 40k deposit on a house? The same 9% that your parents wouldn't of ever had to pay, of yes that one.

Just because a lot of students go to uni to doss around then can't be arsed working hard for a living doesn't mean those that do should get shafted for life.

[anonymous-user]

I wonder if encouraging millions of teenagers to hole up in digs, is part of the herd immunity master plan.
Stick all of the youngsters together, teenagers being teenagers it will spread between the unaffected part of the population. Away from granny.

i felt sorry for them, well stitched up financially etc

[BrundanBianchi]

The school / college leavers were warned it was going to be a rough ride. However loads went off for the ‘uni experience’ ( having been told it wasn’t really going to happen for the foreseeable). Then they start complaining that they can’t get out on the sex / drug / booze fuelled rampage that the first part of the first year entails, and complain about still having to pay tuition fees / rent etc. etc. What exactly did they expect?

[Byker28i]

BrundanBianchi said:

The school / college leavers were warned it was going to be a rough ride. However loads went off for the ‘uni experience’ ( having been told it wasn’t really going to happen for the foreseeable). Then they start complaining that they can’t get out on the sex / drug / booze fuelled rampage that the first part of the first year entails, and complain about still having to pay tuition fees / rent etc. etc. What exactly did they expect?

Well according to you sex drugs and booze

[Gecko1978]

TurboHatchback said:

Yes I think it is a pisstake. The fees are simply absurd for the majority of courses, even when I was at university paying £3k a year I remember one girl I lived with who had a grand total of three contact hours a week studying sociology. £9k a year is ridiculous and it is criminal that they can continue to charge this whilst not providing any of the service that is being paid for. Given the students are basically unaffected by covid I don't begrudge them in the slightest having parties and enjoying themselves, why should they listen to a government that has been progressively shafting them for years at every opportunity and that none of them voted for.

Also student debt is most certainly real debt. Yes there are caveats around repaying it but I get over £170 taken out of my pay packet every month and this will continue until I'm nearly retired so it is a large burden on your future earnings.

So like I said do a course from an overseas uni. Save a fortune.

[TurboHatchback]

BrundanBianchi said:

The school / college leavers were warned it was going to be a rough ride. However loads went off for the ‘uni experience’ ( having been told it wasn’t really going to happen for the foreseeable). Then they start complaining that they can’t get out on the sex / drug / booze fuelled rampage that the first part of the first year entails, and complain about still having to pay tuition fees / rent etc. etc. What exactly did they expect?

You do realise that the majority of degrees last three, four or five years ergo most students were already part way through their course when lockdown happened. Also the planning for university starts well in advance of actually going, before the full ramifications of the governments coronavirus response were clear. What else exactly would you expect the school leavers to do when there are no jobs available, no travel allowed for gap years etc? Clearly you have quite the chip on your shoulder about those who choose further education.

[Welshbeef]

Lotobear said:

Okay, sorry now for another CV19 related thread but this one deserves its own I think.

Loto junior is on the second year of his degree at a well know northern city. He's a dedicated and very independent lad and works hard - he skipped doing A levels and went Btec for two years to qualify onto the degree course (surveying). He knows what he want to do.

We tried to get him onto a degree apprentice scheme at first but without success - he would have preferred that and doubtless flourished in the work/educate environment

Now he's holed up in a small room in a flat with a few mates unable to do much at all - in exchange for his debt and rent he receives 1, I repeat, 1 hour of remote lecture time per week and complains they have not even given them a timetable yet!! He could do this at home of course but he's not allowed out.

He and all his pals are getting disillusioned whilst the Uni rakes it in and the staff sit at home smoking weed (okay I admit that's a guess but probably not far from the truth). Meanhwile the Landlords are looking cushty.

He's now talking of wanting to pack it all in and try for a job - he feels very let down and has become very cynical about the whole thing "the 40k debt is just a payment for your degree".

Personally I think this is an absolute national disgrace and one of the hidden areas of damage being wrought by this bloody virus and in particular the Govt response to it.

I would like to think they will be given some sort of refund or some of the debt defrayed but I'm not banking on it. However the damage is more than purely financial.

Meanwhile all these youngsters are either going to get a crap degree or else one which is devalued by a perception that they were awarded 'easily' due to the Covid situation which prevailed at the time.

Anyway I accept that's something of a personal rant but what do others think?

Martin Lewis covered this a few weeks ago on his weekly evening show.

He said to the very very vast majority of students they will not pay it back
He re raised it’s only 9% and this wouldn’t change the value charged monthly.

It would however impact those who actively over paid or paid it all upfront ie the wealthy.

Have a look at ITV player.

[loafer123]

I think it depends where you are and what you are doing.

My daughter is in 1st year Medicine down south. Online lectures and placements aren't ideal, but bearable.

42 people in her "bubble" on the floor of a halls. Party every night. They are just finished with 3 weeks lockdown after Covid swept through.

From now on, I expect infection rates to drop quickly and it will be an OK experience.

[bigandclever]

Welshbeef said:

Have a look at ITV player.

Or click the link in the 3rd post

[anonymous-user]

loafer123 said:

I think it depends where you are and what you are doing.

My daughter is in 1st year Medicine down south. Online lectures and placements aren't ideal, but bearable.

42 people in her "bubble" on the floor of a halls. Party every night. They are just finished with 3 weeks lockdown after Covid swept through.

From now on, I expect infection rates to drop quickly and it will be an OK experience.

I keep thinking that maybe its not a bad thing that Covid sweeps through the student population. Hopefully once its been though them all, that's more or less the end of the issue for them?

There are apparently 2.3 million higher education students in the UK, and I can't help but feel that if many of them contracted Covid, it would help overall herd immunity hugely.

I mean we're all probably going to get it at some point right?

[Pothole]

Gecko1978 said:

My take on this is in 2021 new uni students might look at whats on offer in the UK and then look whats on offer on line from accredited overseas universities via remote learning and think....hmmm 10k plus expenses to the uk or save a load of cash and get a degree.

Ohio state university in the US a top ranked institute works out around $6000 a year in fees next year (depends on course etc). So my advice is shop around now.

How do they find $6000? The Student Loan Company won't front it and a bank loan, should anyone be able to secure one with potential student income for 3 or 4 years, would be at far higher interest than staying in the UK, wouldn't it?

[loafer123]

Lord Marylebone said:

loafer123 said:

I think it depends where you are and what you are doing.

My daughter is in 1st year Medicine down south. Online lectures and placements aren't ideal, but bearable.

42 people in her "bubble" on the floor of a halls. Party every night. They are just finished with 3 weeks lockdown after Covid swept through.

From now on, I expect infection rates to drop quickly and it will be an OK experience.

I keep thinking that maybe its not a bad thing that Covid sweeps through the student population. Hopefully once its been though them all, that's more or less the end of the issue for them?

There are apparently 2.3 million higher education students in the UK, and I can't help but feel that if many of them contracted Covid, it would help overall herd immunity hugely.

I mean we're all probably going to get it at some point right?

Most likely!

My daughter had a test and it came back negative. Given several of her new friends have it and they have been in close proximity partying into the small hours, that must mean she has already had it - in fact I think we all had it very early in early Feb due to a secondary link to the Brighton superspreader.

I would be surprised if they got any more positive tests on her floor unless and until the antibodies wear off and they can catch it again.

[CrutyRammers]

The way the students have been treated is a fking disgrace.

[Gecko1978]

Pothole said:

Gecko1978 said:

My take on this is in 2021 new uni students might look at whats on offer in the UK and then look whats on offer on line from accredited overseas universities via remote learning and think....hmmm 10k plus expenses to the uk or save a load of cash and get a degree.

Ohio state university in the US a top ranked institute works out around $6000 a year in fees next year (depends on course etc). So my advice is shop around now.

How do they find $6000? The Student Loan Company won't front it and a bank loan, should anyone be able to secure one with potential student income for 3 or 4 years, would be at far higher interest than staying in the UK, wouldn't it?

Why would you not be able to get a career development loan. Or even a studnet loan your in the UK the cost is just less.

Also lets say you can't borrow the cash so bank of mum an dad. Is it better to get a effectively distance learnt degree for £30k or one for $18k (£14k)

[Pothole]

Gecko1978 said:

Pothole said:

Gecko1978 said:

My take on this is in 2021 new uni students might look at whats on offer in the UK and then look whats on offer on line from accredited overseas universities via remote learning and think....hmmm 10k plus expenses to the uk or save a load of cash and get a degree.

Ohio state university in the US a top ranked institute works out around $6000 a year in fees next year (depends on course etc). So my advice is shop around now.

How do they find $6000? The Student Loan Company won't front it and a bank loan, should anyone be able to secure one with potential student income for 3 or 4 years, would be at far higher interest than staying in the UK, wouldn't it?

Why would you not be able to get a career development loan. Or even a studnet loan your in the UK the cost is just less.

Also lets say you can't borrow the cash so bank of mum an dad. Is it better to get a effectively distance learnt degree for £30k or one for $18k (£14k)

I don't know. Do you?

A loan to go to University in the UK can be paid off over decades, depending on what the student earns. Any commercial loan is unlikely to be on the same terms, AFAICS.

[i4got]

Pothole said:

I don't know. Do you?

A loan to go to University in the UK can be paid off over decades, depending on what the student earns. Any commercial loan is unlikely to be on the same terms, AFAICS.

And up to 45% of UK students loans will be written off before repayment.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

The whole thing is monstrous.

All these kids could be remote learning from home. In the case of Nottingham we were at 60 covid cases per 100k. Bring back 50,000 young folk & within two weeks we go to 800+

I'm not blaming the young folk (mostly), but the crap system that's herded them altogether for no real reason.

[Evoluzione]

Lotobear said:

Evoluzione said:

Can he opt out, go get a job then go back to it in later years?

We've discussed this and, being a surveyor myself, I have made enquires with a number of firms and contacts to see if he can get on to a degree apprentice position at this stage.

However, employers run a mile as, yes, they are all working from home so there are no offices for him to work at or gain the necessary experience.

Push comes to shove he could work for me but I have never thought that would be good for him - he needs to be out in the bright lights/big city and get the rounded experience, personal and professional, he would get in a big firm.

I mean any job. Just to bide time, make money and get experience. Anything is better than sitting around doing nothing and will reflect on him positively later.
It's terrible what is happening, but many of us are just treading water atm and going nowhere.