By Keziah Cracknell
Like many in education, university students have been experiencing a reduced quality of education as they’ve switched to an unexpected, online-only, from-home form of study.
In a recent petition to the British Government students asked that the third-semester tuition fees be refunded, and at last count, 99,501 people had signed it.
With facilities that are on-site, such as libraries, internet access, and student support services now closed off to them, many students have felt that what they are paying for is not currently worth the money.
This has been a widespread issue for many students. As a student myself, the lack of access to resources such as the library has been detrimental to my education. Although the university has tried to make it possible to do as much work as possible from home, it is hard to get the same quality of work.
The situation is difficult for everyone. As a student, I obviously feel that my education is important, but I also believe that it can wait while we deal with the current crisis, and funds from schemes such as student finance could be redirected elsewhere, such as the NHS. The universities, of course, must also pay their own staff, but returning even a small percentage of the fees – which, only a few years ago, were less than half of what they are now – would go along way to supporting and securing the safety of their students.
However, even this only directly relates to British students who receive loans, international students have been left even more in the dark.
According to Times Higher Education, they already pay more in university fees.
Their report said: ‘In 2020, international students can expect to pay between £10,000 and £26,000 annually for lecture-based undergraduate degrees. An undergraduate medical degree can cost overseas students up to £58,600 per year’.
While some students from the EU can apply for loans from their government, this is not the case for all international students, especially those from further afield.
In 2014-15, 30% of Tuition fees made up university income, 23% of which came from non-EU student fees. To a university, international students are one of their main sources of income, and therefore may not be able to provide refunds for all students. However, if they don’t support the student body that represents such a large portion of their income, they may lose it altogether. It’s a tricky situation for all involved.
The Government responds to all petitions that reach 10,000, but if it reaches 100,000 it will be considered for debate at Parliament.
Refunds are never quite as simple as they may seem on the surface, there are always other factors that must be considered, a refund for students may mean that universities may not be able to pay their own staff and perhaps resort to putting them on Furlough. Would that be fair?
Refunds may offer hope, but the reality of the situation is often much more complicated.