01 juin 2013
Postgraduate study: is another degree really the answer?
By Charlotte Lytton. The carefree summer after graduation may be fun, but many twentysomethings are returning to education before joining the rat race. Is that wise, asks Charlotte Lytton. There comes a certain time of year on every young Facebooker’s newsfeed when status updates shift from the usual "so much bants last nite LOL" to pictures of sleekly bound dissertations, discarded textbooks and students smiling through the pain of post-exam claw hand. Yes, university’s out for summer, which means a boatload of bright-eyed graduates are being reintegrated with the public, and the days of going to Tesco in your pyjamas and “investing” in £1 WKDs are no longer a viable life choice. Read more...Two-thirds of pupils 'alarmed by rising cost of a degree'
By Graeme Paton. Universities will be forced to provide local schoolchildren with clear advice about the price of degree courses amid fears too many teenagers are being put off higher education by an increase in tuition fees, it was announced today. The Government’s Office for Fair Access said academics must “do more to reach out to potential students” in return for the right to charge up to £9,000-a-year for undergraduate courses. The comments came as a study published today found that two-thirds of schoolchildren have “significant concerns” about the cost of university. Although the majority of schoolchildren still aspire to higher education, figures show 65 per cent were worried about fees, living expenses and the economic value of a degree. The Sutton Trust, a charity promoting social mobility, which published the study, used the findings to call for the introduction of a new system of means-tested tuition fees, claiming that children are facing potential debts of £40,000. Read more...Good degree grade 'worth extra £2,000 a year in wages'
By Graeme Paton. Students who narrowly scrape a good degree can earn at least £2,000 a year more than classmates forced to make do with a poor grade, according to research. Figures show that graduates entering the workplace with an upper-second or better will be paid an average of seven per cent more than those awarded a lower-second. Research by the London School of Economics revealed that the earnings premium attached to a 2:1 was twice that attached to a first-class degree. It also emerged that men were far more likely to convert top grades into high wages than women. Read more...Bank of Mum and Dad closed to students
By Sophie Christie. Parents confess lack of financial support for their children during university. University students will have to rely wholly on student finance in the future as a new survey reveals three quarters of parents are not saving money towards their child’s higher education. The survey conducted by money saving website, www.offeroftheday.co.uk, shows that from a poll of 1,403 UK parents who had children either at university, or soon to be going, three quarters replied ‘no’ when asked “Do you have a savings fund to help your child through university?”When questioned why they had decided not to save for their child’s university education, 44pc said that they could not afford to do so, 40pc said they would contribute what they could and 31pc believed student finance would be enough to cover the cost. Read more...
Scottish universities 'could continue discriminating against English after independence'
By Simon Johnson. Universities in a separate Scotland might be permitted to charge English students tuition fees by securing an exemption from EU anti-discrimination laws, a legal opinion obtained by the sector has concluded. Solicitors Anderson Strathern said there may be a way around the rules, which would ban the current practice of charging students from the rest of the UK fees while providing ‘free’ tuition for their Scottish peers. The legal opinion said ministers would have to convince the EU that Scottish applicants would be squeezed out by a tide of school leavers from south of the Border unless the charges were retained. However, the document said universities would have a better chance of complying with EU law if they reintroduced tuition fees for all students but made only those living in Scotland eligible for grants. Read more...No financial gain for female graduates with first-class degrees
By Hayley Dixon. Women who leave university with a first class degree see little difference in their salary, but their male counterparts receive a clear financial advantage, a study has found. As female students across the country prepare to sit their exams, the London School of Economics has discovered that the future salary difference for those walking away with a first and those gaining a 2:1 is small. In contrast first-class male graduates are likely to be paid six percent more than their peers who obtained a lower grade. The report was carried out by Professors Andy Feng and Georg Graetz who found that, on average, a first-class degree adds roughly 3 per cent to earnings in the first year of employment“In cash terms, this means that the men get a bonus for a first of about £1,780 in today’s money,” the report’s authors conclude. “If this difference remains over a 40-year career, this would be worth about £71,000.”
The authors claim that the differences may wear off over time, but they cannot explain the gender pay discrepancies. Read more...
Should first year count towards your degree?
By Ellis Schindler. As universities explore a new degree classification system, some are reconsidering how much weight should be given to first year. As final year students prepare to sit their summer exams, many will share one wish: that their first year marks counted.The debate about whether first year exams should influence a student's final result has divided opinion for years. But as universities examine the possibility of replacing traditional degree classifications with Grade Point Average (GPA) – a new marking system where graduates receive a point score – the discussion is heating up. Read more...How do universities deal with gender segregation?
By Louise Tickle. University chiefs are struggling to decide whether they should try to stop events where women can't sit with men. "The day before the event, we got an email to say it was segregated and we were very shocked," says Razana Abdul, a Muslim student, who is at university in London. Read more...UK's 'absurd' visa policies have hurt student recruitment from India
By Richard Adams. Vince Cable, business secretary, appears to support campaign to revise definition of migration to exclude those on student visas. Britain's attempts to restrain immigration has caused serious problems for student recruitment in countries such as India, and led to a "substantial" reduction in the number of applicants from the subcontinent, the business secretary said on Wednesday. Read more...University fees biggest barrier to wider access, research finds
By Richard Adams. Study of state-school pupils not planning to enter higher education reveals 57% see finances as the greatest obstacle. The cost of going to university is more of an obstacle than lack of ability among state school pupils likely to skip higher education, a study of the next generation of students has found. An Ipsos Mori survey of 2,500 11-to-16 year-olds at state schools funded by the Sutton Trust found that among those who say they are unlikely to go to university 57% cite financial considerations as the reason – more than the 41% who say they aren't clever enough to go. Read more...
