aims values and ethics - lond assignment

7/31/2019 Aims Values and Ethics - Lond Assignment

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EDU2012: Aims, Values & Ethics in EducationAssignment 3: THE LONG ASSIGNMENTLong Assignment

James Moring09331141

Word Count - 2192

It should be a free market for universities to choose howmuch to charge its students.

The debate regarding University tuition fees has been brought to life recently

with the increased cost of up to 9,000 being charged by most universities from

2012 onwards (Coughlan, 2010, online). The reform implemented by the

coalition government back in November of 2010 lead to student protests and

great disapproval by many different groups. It is clear to see that this issue is of

great importance to many people, and that many people feel strongly about it.

This paper has been put together following a debate between students at

Northampton University; each student is studying Education and has their own

unique view on this subject. James is an education studies student with stronger

right winged views than most, he believes that Universities should be free to

charge what they want, and this in turn would lead to a higher quality degree

being obtained by students. Daniel is also an education studies student, however

his views differ strongly to those of James, and he believes that Universities

should be entirely free in this country and that everyone has the right to a

University education. Jessica is slightly more neutral than both James and

Daniel, also and education studies student she was happy with how things were

and believes that free University would be un-feasible, but overpriced University

would lead to an elitist culture.

Their conversation dialog regarding this subject has been scribed below with full

references added for completeness.

James: Thanks for agreeing to meet up today, I thought it would be very

interesting to have all of our views on this very controversial

subject written down, given the degree in which we disagree with

one and other.

Jessica: Thats ok; when you first mentioned this I must say I thought it

would be very interesting to see how our views could affect each

others opinion on this subject.

Daniel: Yes, I totally agree Jessica. It will be very interesting to hear each

of your views on this subject, I know I feel very strongly about thisand I know many other people do as well.


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James: Thats right; you went down to London to protest the raise in fees

didnt you?

Daniel: Yes I did, and I must say how interesting it was talking with so

many like-minded people as me when it comes to the issues

surrounding tuition fees.

James: Well then to kick this debate properly off I would like to remind you

both of the title given to this debate, that is, It should be a free

market for Universities to choose how much to charge its students.

Now you both know that I fully support this title, I believe

Universities should have a free market to charge whatever fees

they feel are appropriate for their University. This will allow the

Universities commonly regarded as the best in the country, such as

Cambridge and Oxford to be able to charge higher fees than those

who rank below them in the league tables.

Jessica: You bring up an interesting point regarding league tables, and therankings on league tables, however the these were the league

tables with the fees at as close to makes a difference 3,000, so

havent the Universities, such as you mention Oxford and

Cambridge, become as highly respected as they are today with the

lower fees, why do you feel this need not only to raise the fees, but

to rise them even higher potentially out pricing many students

from attending those high quality Universities.

James: Well the government has removed a large portion of its funding for

University courses, so therefore it is vital that Universities raise

their fees so that they can continue to perform as they arecurrently, so that they dont need to close many departments, and

loose many jobs. However why should we be striving to maintain

things as they are and not look for even higher excellence? In the

USA, universities charge a far higher amount than they do in

England, Americas top universities, such as Harvard, charges the

equivalent to 21,338 per year (This is Money, online, 2010)

compared with the equivalent of top universities in the UK, such as

Oxford and Cambridge, who will only be charging 9,000 per year.

In fact Oxford and Cambridge are in the top 5 of the worlds best

universities with Cambridge coming first (QS World University

Rankings, 2012). Why then is it that other of the worlds top

universities, such as Harvard, Yale and MIT are able to charge what

they like?

Jessica: Well America is very different from the UK, there a lot of the

decision around which University to go to is done based on price,

that surly is not the best way to get the best students at the best

University, surly that is what we should be attaining to do, not to

price out some of the best that come from a poorer background

Daniel: Exactly Jessica, you are completely right in saying that theseUniversities price out some students, it is not fair that some of the


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more promising students have to go to lower quality Universities,

when they are as capable, if not more so, than some that go to the

more expensive Universities. If what you are suggesting was

implemented in the UK it would just mean that the already well off

would become richer, and those that are poor would not stand a

chance. If on the other hand you totally abolished tuition fees, and

allowed everyone who wanted a degree to go to University then you

would not have that issue.

Jessica: Well you cant quite have everyone going to University can you

Daniel? That isnt feasible if everyone wants to go to Cambridge.

Daniel: I still say you have to get the grades, but by having no tuition fees

there is nothing to stop anyone apart from their own ability.

James: But how does the increase in tuition fees, or indeed a free market in

tuition fees make a difference? Nobody needs to come up with this

money before the go to University, there are student loans whichare charged at a very small per cent interest, and you dont even

need to start paying them back until you are earning over 21,000

a year. The whole point of going to University in my opinion is to

get a degree, which in turn will allow you to get a higher paying

job, in that instance why shouldnt those people pay more in fact

for their education? By not having any tuition fees anyone could go

to University just as something to do, they wouldnt need to worry

about their education, go through the whole process, and come out

with nothing to show for three years of work surly we want to

discourage thisDaniel: You cant surly be saying that by abolishing tuition fees the quality

of a University education will suffer?

James: I am not necessarily suggesting that no, but what I am saying with

increased tuition fees to a level of a free market, where price of a

University course is determined by the supply of that course and

demand for that course, would mean standards would have to

constantly rise. Universities are charged with educating

predominantly the youth of today making them ready for the

future, therefore for a better more prosperous future we should be

ensuring that universities are given the best education possible,

and the competition that a free market in University prices would

produce, would give a better future for all.

Jessica: Well I think what your suggesting is just going too far James. I

dont agree with you Daniel that it should be free but

Daniel: (Interrupting) Sorry Jessica but why not? University degrees in my

opinion are suffering because student cannot fund themselves, a

widely accepted opinion on this was put forward by Nicholas Barr

(2002), he suggests that students have to turn to expensive

overdrafts and credit-card debt and/or to extensive part-time workto deal with the cost of University. How can this be a good thing to


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encourage, we are surly teaching our students that it is ok to be in

debt, either that of you are taking away a large amount of studying

time by almost forcing them to work to sustain themselves. Surly

with an increase further in tuition fees this will only increase and we

will become a nation living in more and more debt. How is it you

argue that this is a good thing?

James: You mention there a few points that I would like to answer

separately if I may. Firstly the work done by Barr (2002) also

shows that The UK would have to spend an extra 3.5 billion per

year to reach the EU average, where is this money coming from if

not the students? Furthermore if students wanted to live at home

and go to a local University their living expenses would be lower,

tuition fees do not get paid upfront by students and therefore would

not cause any financial hardship on students whilst they are at

University.Jessica: He is right there Daniel, but I still think there is a fine line between

charging students a fair price and over charging, potentially scaring

students off. From fees at 3,000, now with the withdrawal of

government funding and fees being up to 9,000 it is only around

52,000 UK-born students that have applied for university next year,

when fees will rise (The Guardian, 2011, online), this is already a

12% decrease, surly with your suggestions James applications

through UCAS would drop even further with some Universities

unable to continue? This would lead to more people out of work,

and would surely be far more detrimental to the Country, why notjust leave things as they are?

James: I am not saying all universities should charge 20,000 a year, but

they should charge what their course is actually worth, lets be

honest, a degree from Oxford or Cambridge is viewed as more

worthy by employers than one attained from Anglia Ruskin or De

Montfort or even Northampton. Why shouldnt those Universities be

able to charge more, and why shouldnt people want to pay more

for a better education especially if they dont even need to pay

more upfront

Daniel: Well you do make a fair point regarding fees not needing to be paid

up front, however will this just lead to a culture of people applying

to really good Universities, getting massive loans and still not doing

anything with their degree this would mean that the loans never

get repaid wouldnt it?

James: Yes it would mean that the loan wouldnt ever be repaid, but what

is the point of putting in all the effort to get to one of the top

Universities only to do no work once youre there, and not get a

good job at the end of it? As I truly believe the reason to go to

University is to get a good job, the better University you go to,generally speaking the better paid job you will get.


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Jessica: I suppose you are right James, having a degree is certainly better

than not, I read that during the early stages of a career, between

the ages of 21-33 a degree educated employee will earn on average

44,460 more than their non-degree counterparts (Richard, 2010,

online)

Daniel: Yes I read that as well, but the statistic that stood out to me was

that 20% of students drop out completely and out the remaining

80% only 2/3 of them utilise their degree within a graduate role.

That means that over half of all university students do not gain any

benefit from their education, how can you argue it is worth all this

money?

James: Well I cannot say I read the article which you are both referring to,

but given the data you are quoting it sounds like a large amount of

people go to University and then dont use their degree, with higher

fees are you not more likely to want to use your degree? If youbrought yourself a new TV, would you not want to watch it rather

than watch your old one?

Daniel: Thats an interesting point and you both have given me a lot to

think about, I cant say that I necessarily agree with either of you,

but I do at least understand your view point.

Jessica: Thank you Daniel, I cant say that I agree with you but there are a

few very good points you have mentioned here today and I will

have to think about them more, as have you James, so thank you.

James: Well thank you to both of you, I know time is short, but I would like

to say that this has been a very interesting conversation and I thinkwe have all learnt something and can view this whole issue

differently in the future, I hope that anyone reading what has been

discussed here today can see all sides of the debate and formulate

their own opinions.

Jessica: Thanks

Daniel: Thanks again

James: And to you, goodbye.

References


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Barr, N. (2002) Funding higher education: policies for access and quality, House

of Commons, Education and Skills Committee, Post-16 Student Support, Sixth

Report of Session 2001-2002, pp. 19-35.

Coughlan, S. (2010) Students face tuition fees raising to 9,000, BBC News

online, available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11677862

QS World University Ranking (2012) QS World University Rankings 2011-2012,

online, available from http://www.topuniversities.com/ University -

rankings/world- University -rankings/2011

Richard (2010) Is a degree education worth the money? Online, available from

http://www.gurucareersnetwork.com/blog/is-a-degree-education-worth-the-

money/

Shepherd, J. (2011) UK university applicants drop by 12% before tuition fee

rise, The Guardian online, available from

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/24/university-applicants-drop-

tuition-fees

This is Money (2010) How do the costs of UK and US universities compare,

online, available from http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-

1708861/How-do-costs-of-UK - and-US-universities-compare.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11677862http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011http://www.gurucareersnetwork.com/blog/is-a-degree-education-worth-the-money/http://www.gurucareersnetwork.com/blog/is-a-degree-education-worth-the-money/http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/24/university-applicants-drop-tuition-feeshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/24/university-applicants-drop-tuition-feeshttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1708861/How-do-costs-of-UK-and-US-universities-compare.htmlhttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1708861/How-do-costs-of-UK-and-US-universities-compare.htmlhttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1708861/How-do-costs-of-UK-and-US-universities-compare.htmlhttp://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011http://www.gurucareersnetwork.com/blog/is-a-degree-education-worth-the-money/http://www.gurucareersnetwork.com/blog/is-a-degree-education-worth-the-money/http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/24/university-applicants-drop-tuition-feeshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/24/university-applicants-drop-tuition-feeshttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1708861/How-do-costs-of-UK-and-US-universities-compare.htmlhttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1708861/How-do-costs-of-UK-and-US-universities-compare.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11677862

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