I foresaw this coming.

If you cut funding to universities, they have to raise money by other means. Tuition fees are one way and entry through the (ahem) backdoor is another.

The problem is that the unis will want a certain number in through overseas to raise the cash. They also have to have a certain number from underprivilaged areas. This means that if you worked hard and did lots of stuff for UCAS, were the perfect candidate, you still might not get in, which IMO is unfair.

Surely if there was room to add extra places they should be open to all who qualify, not just the rich.

If a course that has space for 30 students but to ensure "high" quality teaching cant take on more but by having an extra 5 paid students an extra lecturer can be hired then you have 35 students with 2 tutors. Simple win for everyone. This of course assumes that the extra money is put back into the courses and not the vive chancellors bran new car.

Lol, true.

Don't see a problem with this, as long as they have a fixed number of these places available. The company I work for used to send workers out on day release on degree courses and so on, and it would make apprentice schemes more attractive - job experience and qualifications.

At the end of the day, if you're thick as two short planks, no amount of money is going to change that.

True, but surely the worry is that it can make it not matter.

Jon

I have no problems if the richest do not get subsidised places. They should either get a guaranteed place by paying top dollar or risk not getting accepted like everyone else. No second chances at entry, via a back buy your way in. The government are already talking about making some top universities private and allowing them to set fees at what ever level they like.

I don't see the problem with this.

At the moment the universities have a number of places that are completely unfunded (i.e. you have to pay full whack for them) and they are only allowed to go to foreign students.

Why is it suddenly not fair to allow British students to pay for one of these also?

It doesn't reduce the number of normal places available it just means British people can guarantee a place by paying full whack for it.

Entirely fair but i don't think that's what people are worried about. What people are worried about is cash strapped universities stuffing courses to bursting point with students including as many full-paying 'extras' as they can find, but most of the extra money that brings in won't be spent on increasing the resources - face to face teaching, lab spaces etc - that the extra class size needs to provide the same level of education.

Essentially what people worry about is if you take in more students but still only fund the course itself to the same degree, everybody on the course - both the 'standard' british students and the 'extras' - get a worse education. While the vice-chancellor gets a new car (my VC drives a brand new jaguar XKR. Mind you, she is on the board of directors of AstraZeneca and one of the most senior scientists in Britain, so I don't suppose the VC job salary is a major issue to her).

Jon

You also start to add a feeling of injustice into the system. A British student paying full whack for a course will no doubt expect more attention and resources than those who are not.