Britons boycott higher education as fees hike bites

A group of graduates.  [PHOTOS: COURTESY]

An increase in university tuition fees has forced thousands of British students, including some with East African roots, to drop out. From London, SHAMLAL PURI reports that tough new visa rules have also locked out foreign students

The British Government’s decision to increase university tuition fees threefold for local students has sparked protests.

Prime Minister David Cameron has introduced several higher education reforms since 2010. However, the most dramatic and contentious overhaul is the student finance system in which the Government has all but wiped out direct state funding for England’s universities and transferred the entire cost to students, except for a few top-up grants for more expensive courses such as the sciences and medicine.

Britons applying for admission into universities for the 2013/14 academic year have to fork out a minimum of £9,000 (about Sh1.17 million) in tuition fees per year for first degree courses as opposed to £3,290 (about Sh430,000) before 2012/2013. Students also pay £10,000 (Sh1.3 million) for living costs in the university. Foreign students pay a flat fee of £10,975 (Sh1.4 million) per year.

Violent Protests

Previously, the government controlled the fees universities could charge, but the institutions opposed this control, citing escalating costs. The authorities relented by lifting the cap on tuition fees, so universities can now charge whatever they wish.

Although loans are available for the entire duration of study, they have to be repaid with interest after students complete their studies and get a job with a minimum annual salary of £21,000 (Sh2.7 million).

The opposition Labour has criticised Cameron, with shadow minister for universities Shabana Mahmood saying tuition fees should be no more than £6,000 (Sh780,000).

Nationwide demonstrations began in November 2010. London bore the brunt when 50,000 angry protestors, including many former East Africans, took to the streets, accusing the Government of excessive education cuts in breach of election promises.

Subsequent protests turned violent when students occupied and damaged government and university buildings. Many protestors and police officers were injured.

In one ugly incident, angry students attacked a motorcade carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla. It almost resulted in bodyguards drawing their weapons.

However, the government was unmoved and pressed on with its reforms. Now the chickens have come home to roost. The number of students applying for admission to British universities has gone down by 16 per cent.

Last year, applications to universities were down by 50,000 and the numbers are expected to increase. Worst hit were the once popular creative arts and design courses, with a 16.4 per cent drop. Even media studies, the forte of aspiring journalists, were down by 14 per cent.

The number of applications for Medicine and Dentistry is down by 2.6 per cent, while there is a two per cent slide in Engineering.

Among the losers were the less popular universities, as students with the means to pay were chasing more popular institutions.

Universities minister David Willetts has admitted that the number of young people in degree courses has fallen since the raising of tuition fees, but insisted there were still more applications than places.

Despite the government’s assurances, many young people are not convinced that attending a university is still a sound investment for a well-paid job. There is no guarantee of a job in a country with 2.5 million unemployed, including many graduates.

Recently, a job advertised for a porter in London attracted over a thousand applications, including postgraduates. One leading coffee shop said they had received more than  800 applications for eight posts of servers.

Young students whose parents came from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are also bearing the brunt of the increased fees. Not all of them are wealthy — most are middle class and a percentage have low incomes.

Many British students are heading for foreign universities in the US and Europe. Some are also considering the University of Nairobi or Makerere, and even Indian institutions, where tuition fees are lower.

Since 2009, some 10,000 students have taken the main US college entrance exam in Britain. There is also demand for admissions at a leading university in the Netherlands, where more than 500 Britons have been vying for a place instead of just 35 in 2010.

Foreign options

Many students are heading for universities in India, where first degree courses cost £2,670 (Sh350,000) for three years of study, as opposed to £27,000 (Sh3.5 million) in England. Indian high tech degrees are coveted in the UK.

With the decline in the number of applications from British students, universities are recruiting overseas to fill the shortfalls. There have been drives to attract applicants from Africa and Asia — targeting children from affluent families.

But there are stumbling blocks for foreign students: New immigration rules.

Under the new visa system, there is a limit on the number of years non-European Union students can spend studying, and the number of hours of paid work they can do during and after their degrees.

Additionally, mature foreign students are no longer allowed to bring their spouses or children with them unless they undertake a postgraduate course lasting over a year.

The changes, promised in the Conservative Party’s election pledge, are aimed at cutting migration by tens of thousands by 2015. There are more than 405,000 foreign students at UK universities, contributing £5 billion per year to the British economy.

British universities depend financially on these overseas students, some of whom pay four times as much as British students. The new rules have already seen a 40 per cent drop in the number of applications from foreign students.

Prof Julia King, vice-chancellor of Aston University in Birmingham, said her institution saw a 39 per cent drop in applications from Indian students, and 29 per cent less from Nigerian students due to the new rules. The result was £6 million of lost revenue.

Britain’s loss of foreign students is a gain for Australia and Germany. Gone are the days when, on obtaining their degrees, these students wanted to settle in these countries. They prefer to return home and become serious players, rather than remaining in the UK, where they are unknown entities.