Contemporary Issues Facing Higher Education in England - Essay Example

31 March, 2009 Contemporary issues facing higher education in England - A report. pursuing their higher education in England have a lot of issues to be content with in the present and coming academic years. The increasing inflation and the financial crisis has affected every common man and more so, every student. There are several issues one has to deal with. Those include, tuition fees of universities, debt pressures caused by it, cost of living which in turn affecting the academics of the student. To top it all, the government policies and decisions which decide on the status of all other issues. Academic pressure As per a report, students pursuing their higher education in England, spend very little time per week for studying when compared with other European counterparts. According to a survey conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), about 15000 students were surveyed including both first year and second year students. It has been concluded that each student spends only around 26 hours of time per week for both private study and teaching. Another report on UK universities, in particular, universities in England, shows that the stress levels of students undergoing higher education are more than the level prescribed by health and Safety Executive (HSE) for good health.(Ashley) The report concludes that the current set of standards followed by the Universities fail to meet the psychological conditions required for a healthy environment. (Ashley) Financial pressure. According to a research more than one third of students pursuing higher degree opt to drop out from college due to lack of financial support to make their ends meet. A report developed by National Union of Students (NUS) shows that the students are well aware of their daily expenditure, but not sure of the hidden costs they spend. These include travelling, food bought during travelling, in shops and restaurants. (NUS student experience report) The report also shows the average percentage of people worried about their financial situation. It shows that 13% of the total are very much worried and stressed out about their financial situation whereas 16% of students don't give much attention to it. The rest of students were not aware of how much they spend.(NUS student experience report) According to recent survey conducted on a group of students, a larger database of information was generated with predefined set of questions. On finding out correlation between the debt and term expenditure, it was found out to be 0.76 showing a fairly high connection between the two subjected quantities. Further analysis was done to test two hypotheses. One is a belief of no difference in debt between mature and young students. The other was mature students having more debts than young students. With t-test and histogram on a surveyed set of data, both the hypotheses were proved wrong. Although the correlation was found, there was not enough evidence to back the hypothesis. It can be summarized that most of them are under the wrong notion of borrowing things would satisfy their needs rather than looking at the cumulative result they would face after graduation. It could also be one of their ways to counter the financial pressure. The current financial turmoil has added to their stress level as the expenditure for basic amenities has increased. The current recession has led students who want to join universities to go for one which is nearby their home so that they could cut down on the loan for maintenance. (Students at home 'to cut costs') A survey suggests that due to recession, there are not enough part-time jobs to compensate students who take loans to complete their higher education. The survey conducted by the youth parliament of UK suggests that 36% of people fear of shifting to new place as they may not be able to repay the debts.(Higher education funding) According to the first held survey on Student Price Index, the students of higher education pay 7 percent higher than the normal consumer, whose price index stands at just 4.4 percent. This imbalance is largely due to the fact that in addition to household items, the students spend more money on other fashionable items such as clothing, drugs and tuition fees.(Kershaw) In addition to that, the accommodation costs are rising by 1.5 times that of ordinary public. Statistics show that the living cost has risen twice to that of general public in the last two years. But, it is not that much rapid this year owing to increase in inflation. (Kershaw) 80% of students currently undergoing higher education were extremely concerned about the current economic situation restraining them from getting a job after graduation. This is furthermore fuelled by the amount of debt they have to repay after graduation. (Students at home 'to cut costs') University Issues Universities on the other hand are pushing the government to increase the tuition fees to withstand competitions from other universities all over the world. In a survey conducted by BBC News, vice-chancellors of different universities are asking for astonishing rise in tuition fees in the range varying from 4,000 to 20,000 per year. Such a change would ultimately affect the 2.8 million students currently pursuing higher education.(Coughlan) The current number of students studying in England counts to 2.3 million. It remains unaffected if the fee cap is raised to 5000. But, if the fee cap is raised to 7000, an approximate 30,000 students would deviate from applying to universities in the period, 2011-2016.(Evans, Williams) The survey by youth parliament of UK suggests that about 95% of people from higher education community oppose the removal of 3,300 cap on tuition fees. The survey summarizes that the future students might be feared of accepting higher education due to the huge amount of loans to pay back. (Students at home 'to cut costs') In this economic turmoil, it would be the last thing wanted by the National Union of Students (NUS) or any other student community. The students who are already under mental stress due to the their current debt caused by the 3,000 tuition fees per year, such a increase would ultimately shoot the debt amount to estimated 32,000, which is practically not repayable under the present financial conditions.(Coughlan) The universities can find other ways to raise money rather than increase tuition fees. On an interview, when asked a lecturer on what could be the changes in university sector, the solutions suggested by the lecturer included majority changes with post graduation course. He continues to say that though bright students would want to go for a well paid job but, due to the drought of jobs, thanks to recession, they might opt for getting another higher degree, just to pass off the economic cloud, without entering it. There might be other reasons too, he adds, saying that getting another qualification is obviously what they would have aimed for, but due to financial circumstances they might not have, but now, he confidently says that they would opt for it. So, he concludes by saying that, though few people opt to drop of colleges due to parental and financial circumstances, the number of candidates doing post graduation will always be on the raise. The university has to increase the number of post graduation courses and the government has to fund the students with grants to pursue it successfully. Government of England on higher education The government of England supports students who are in need of financial support to pursue their higher education through a service called Student Finance England. (Student finance) The public service body of England for higher education, HEFCE has been allocated grant money of 7,994 million for the academic year 2009-10. This is a 4 percent increase compared to year 2008-09. Out of this, the recurrent funding for teaching has been allocated a sum of 4,782 million.(Recurring grants for 09-10) The research amount is estimated as 1,572 million and a sum of 134 million given for community engagement. For funding students, an amount of 1,154 million and 316 million are allocated to capital grants and special funding respectively. (Recurring grants for 09-10) Despite the economic slowdown, 130 higher education institutions and 124 colleges are funded directly by the government. As a remedial step taken by the government, the number of students getting benefitted by the grants has been considerably increased, helping them to fight inflation. But, at the same time, as a balancing act, the government has reduced the special funding amount by 95 million compared to 2008-09. This has cascaded to reduce the total grant by 1.4 percent compared to last year. (Recurring grants for 09-10) On an overall basis, the funding for higher education by government is considerably favourable to universities and students when taking into account of inflation and recession. Conclusion Students undergoing this kind of stress due to pressure of academics and debt can place their queries to their lecturers and ask for solution to mentally regain their strength. Some of the suggestions given by a lecturer, who completed Ph. D are to be self motivated, not to take thing too seriously and be all independent in driving towards the goal. The current academic year is touted as the most expensive year for higher education students as the cost of living soared to unbelievable high, thanks to 50 percent higher inflation. (Kershaw) In this kind of atmosphere, it's going to be a hard task for any new comer, who would have just now found the wings to fly into a new environment surrounded by electrifying economic clouds. Works cited. (n.d.). "Student Finance". 2009. DirectGov. 12 April 2009. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Gettingstarted/DG_171572 (n.d.). "Higher education funding". 2009. British Youth Council. 12 April, 2009 http://www.byc.org.uk/view.phpparent_id=212&content_id=435 (n.d.). "Recurring grants for 2009-10". Mar. 2009. HEFCE. 12 Apr. 2009. http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2009/09_08/#exec (n.d.). "NUS student experience report. 2008. NUS. 12 Apr. 2009. http://www.nus.org.uk/PageFiles/350/NUS%20Student%20Experience%20Report.doc Ashley, D. "Stress levels in higher education way above recommended levels". 11 Dec. 2008. University and college union. 12 Apr. 2009. http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfmarticleid=3647 Coughlan, S. "Universities push for higher fees ". 17 Mar. 09. BBC News. 12 Apr. 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7946912.stm Evans, S., & Williams, J. "Universities face tough economic examination". 22 Mar. 2009. The Independent. 12 Apr. 2009. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/universities-face-tough-economic-examination-1651054.html Kershaw , A. "University students hit by inflation". 18 Aug. 2008. The Independent. 12 Apr. 2009. http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/university-students-hit-by-inflation-901123.html It pointed out that fee-paying students are not getting full value for money if lectures are cancelled. If tuition fees are hiked further, he says it will intensify the sense of consumerism among students. There are other signs of how fees have changed life on campus. Any rise in fees following next year's review could reduce the number of students from poor families choosing to study in expensive cities such as London, "Students in London are far more likely to live at home than elsewhere. If they live outside London and it's not a commutable distance then a lot of them are not choosing London because of the costs." Read More