I’ve just been through my blogroll to see how other OU bloggers are currently reacting to the announcement yesterday of the OU’s revised and massively increased fees structure in England post September 2012.
From the mathematics blog – Course fees up : change of plan – reflecting the concerns of an overseas student as to what the increase might mean:
Study is entertainment for me, I won’t make a single Euro more if I add a Math degree to my c.v. I could spend time solving Project Euler problems for free for years to come.
From the self study masters blog – OU to increase fees for undergraduate students in England – reflecting the concern felt by many (including me) that they will deter many people from study with the OU in the future:
The new fees, in line with other universities, are a substantial increase to what OU students are used to and will be a barrier for entry for a lot of people.
From My Open Experience – OU fees are on the rise – reflecting the relief felt by many students part way through a degree that the transitional arrangements will mean they escape the rise, but again reflecting the concern felt for future students:
Whilst I sit here in a state of relief and thankfulness, I really feel for the potential students who may not be able to further their education because they simply cannot afford it.
From Foreign Perspectives – Wow. £2500 for a 60 point Open University course! – fears that the OU will soon become an option no more for many – and even threaten the existence of the OU itself:
Sadly, it may be that this will mark the end of the OU. At present only 25% of their existing students are straight from A-levels and, apparently, a similar amount who don’t have a previous degree (and thereby eligible for student loans). Which leaves quite a lot of potential students who’d be looking at £1200 for even a 30 point course (vs £400 or so now). For that matter, would many people do a 10 pointer if it cost £400?
And lastly, but perhaps summing up best the feelings of many, Nikki at Open All Hours in her post Fees says:
I have to be honest… these changes anger me. I am not, in any way, angry at the OU. These changes will not affect me. But I am angry for the group of kids who happen to be a couple of years younger than me and will pay over twice as much for the same standard of education that I received. I am angry at the government who received their education for free. I feel our generation is being left behind by previous generations who had everything handed to them on a golden platter.
I did my degree for me and paid for it myself. Were I starting out now I simply wouldn’t be able to afford it, which is such a shame.
Generations of people wont get the fantastic learning opportunity that I did. I feel a real sense of loss for them. A sad, sad day for higher education in this country.
Hey, thanks for adding my blog post in this =)
Hi Nikki,
Thank you too for writing such a great post – I just wanted to make absolutely sure the people who visit here saw it too.
Tim
I suppose the one bright point in this is that the PG fees are thought to be unlikely to go up by anything like this amount when they are reviewed. Whether that will keep the numbers up high enough to keep the OU going is another matter of course.
Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be particularly good news on that front either – this was in the Times Higher Education last week: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=416869
… and, of course, if you’re hoping to do an OU social science masters at the moment, you can’t: http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/psychology/index.htm
But yes, in theory, as PG courses were less subsidised than UG ones, that might be the case (and the Browne report makes no recommendations about PG courses too, thank goodness!)
The OU to date has been an amazing experience, I have completed a certificate in contemporary sciences and currently on year 1 of a Psychology degree. The OU allows me to study at my own convienance then attending evening classes after a long day at the office.
Ideally I want to complete a psychology degree and like most on here, how many of us would had bothered if we had to pay the new fees ?
Sad day that £ now dictates education.
I see myself as a life long learner and I would want to carry on studying, but after my current course – I wont be able to afford the fees.
Thanks for the link! I am just happy I have done my degree, as you say, people who are doing a degree to learn rather than just to get a better job are being penalised which is a great shame.
The OU has abandoned its values – it was set up as a higher education platofrm for adults looking for a second chance – the keyword is adults, now we’re being pushed out, the OU as we know it will die out… sad…
I cannot believe that the OU is allowed to increase charges to only one Country in the UK! Surely this is blatent racism as of course the majority in England are English! Although the UK Government have a legal excuse (even if it is hardly justice!) to discriminate against English residents and cannot discriminate against EU member states, the OU have no legal right!
This should be challenged and fought voraciously. The OU was not set up to favour the Welsh, the Irish or the Scots – there should be no difference between the nations – in fact the English have more right to reduced fees as they are the majority of the UK population! I think its 49 million England, 4 million Scots, 3 million Welsh and I’ve no idea how many Northernm Irish but clearly English residents are the biggest investors in the UK state!
Hi Ian,
Thanks for the comment. A couple of observations.
What we’re seeing here isn’t racism – but a consequence of devolution. The Scots and the Welsh governments have decided to put some of their public spending towards subsidising HE for their residents, the English (through the Westminster parliament) have decided to reduce that subsidy drastically for their residents. The Northern Irish haven’t decided what to do yet.
It’s the word “resident” that is key here. It’s where you live in the UK (not whether you are native English, Scots or whatever) that decides if you benefit from a higher subsidy or not. Interestingly, many Scots MPs voted against raising tuition fees for English resident students last year (Ming Campbell and Charles Kennedy are two who come to mind), so it was largely English Tory MPs who forced the funding changes through. Not totally transparent, but it certainly wasn’t a plot of the Scots or Welsh to impose higher fees on English resident students. We, the English, did it to ourselves by electing too many Tories at the last election!
So you can’t really blame the OU for the decision. Proportionately, for each student, the Scots and the Welsh government will be giving the OU more money in grant aid than they will get for every English resident student. It’s raise fees or go out of business, unfortunately. I question the level of increase, in that it’s proportionately far higher than at traditional universities, but an increase there must be.
I have mentioned in another post out sourcing as a key to reducing costs. No one likes it…however it seems many business have done it and saved money. At the end of the day if the Open University is using a business model, may be they should consider this as a way of saving on overheads. Get an academic in Mumbai to do the tutorials and pay them a fifth of the salary. Save by getting rid of Milton Keynes head office… go to a warmer climate and save on heating.
Interesting idea, even if I disagree with the premise!
One other question: would it be ethical or fair to pay someone 80% less for what they do (assuming that the modules are prepared and administered to the same standard as they currently are) just because they happen to live in a different part of the world?
No it would not be ethical or fair to pay someone 80% less for there work. However this is happening all over the place. An example last week in our news… 680 workers at Talk Talk in Ireland received 30 days notice. Their services are no longer required by the company. Why… well because these jobs are now to be located in India. Why because they can get workers for Euro 2400 compared with Euro 34000 in Ireland. It appears to me that the OU are educators who use a business model. They are no longer in a position to worry about students unable to pay fees. So lets forget about the ethical argument and worry about students geting the best education at the lowest cost. [Tim I really do care about people not being paid a proper wage for the work they do].
Hi David,
A similar thing is happening in Derby of course with the closure of the Egg contact centre. I guess I was just wondering if education had become a commodity yet in the same way as bank/telephone/utility call centres. There is, of course, an interesting reverse trend of companies closing their overseas call centre operations and bringing them back here, when the senior management can’t cope with the complaints of their customers and they lose them to onshore providers!
There’s no easy answer to any of this – capital has always chased after the lowest possible production costs and I guess that will always happen. And I do take your point that the OU has a business model and will have to survive in the marketised education system the coalition government has decided to introduce. But I’m not certain that outsourcing provision is the right way to cut costs and survive/thrive as a high quality HE provider.
Tim.
I made contact with OU yesterday. They have indicated transitional arrangements are in place for students already studying. I made it clear I was not an English student. So it appears they have now made a decision regarding non English students.
Can only be good news if this is the case.