Since the universities can get money from the tuition fees, they can build some new and better facilities for students, such as teaching buildings, a gym, and other recreational facilities. More cash also means the university can offer a higher salary to attract better teachers.
“Tuition fees enable more investment in UK universities. It will also help attract and keep the best teachers and researchers. At the moment, the UK loses many top researchers to the US, where salaries are mostly double the UK” (T.Pettinger: Economics help 2007)
Moreover, universities can use that money to do research to help the country develop. Therefore, from above points, paying tuition fees can bring many benefits for the society.
On the other hand, those authors who support free universities suggested otherwise. There are many students who are poor but intelligent and hard working, they may not be able to get support from their family, so how can they pay for universities? It forces many students to take part time jobs while studying (BBC News, 2007). Part time jobs may lead to many problems for students. For example, it can introduce stress and distract attention from study. Although the UK government alleged that students do not need to get part time jobs because they can take out a Student Loan (which can cover tuition fees, accommodation and other living costs), many have done this. However, student loans can be a disincentive to get a better-paid job, because those low paid jobs do not need to pay them back (T.Pettinger, 2007). Nicholas Barr (2003) also argues that low earners make low or no repayments and people who never earn much do not repay their loan. Do the students have enough responsibility to return the money? What happen if they cannot find a good job after graduation? According to (T.Pettinger, 2007)
“Going into debt may discourage students going to university, Debt can create stress and there is a high % of defaults on student loans”
Student debt is therefore thought to be a burden for students and an increasing problem for the society.
In addition, it is necessary to consider how a student will contribute to the society after graduation. For example, a qualified doctor helps treat other people. People with degrees can become teachers and impart knowledge. Students can be the scientist and find new technology.
there is one more point must be considered that is how students will contribute to the country after graduation. The result is to help the country develop. (Student Loans, 2007) Therefore, the social benefits of universities are higher than private benefits and university education gives benefits to the rest of society (Liverpool Echo, 2003).
Therefore, self-funding may not be a fair option. And some people believe that the best way is to make Higher education totally free.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have demonstrated in this essay that there are arguments to support the view that there are positives and negatives for students paying for their tuition fees. If higher education is free or students are paying tuition fees, both can lead to many problems from the authors point. Conversely, they can also both bring benefits for our society. In my opinion, we ought to pay for higher education; however, some of the subjects, such as science, medicine and education should be free to encourage more students to come to study.
Word count: 769 words
References:
- Liverpool Echo (Dec 5 2003): Should students pay for education?
- BBC News (15 November, 2002) 'No free lunch' students told
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Student Loans (2nd November 2007)
- Nicholas Barr (2003) White paper
