WHY YOU CAN AFFORD TO DO A DEGREE


Professor Alison Wride, Principal of the Greenwich School of Management, Explains How a University Degree Can be Financially Feasible.


W


ith £9,000 in annual tuition fees now the norm, most


undergraduate degrees will cost £27,000 in fees alone. This is to say nothing of the additional expenses amassed from living away from home and the three years of foregone earnings arising from the decision to pursue a degree rather than taking up full-time employment. The result is that many would-be students are deterred from entering higher education. The drop in applications seen this year, after years of growth in numbers, is almost certainly a refl ection of these concerns.


However, obtaining a university degree need not be an insurmountable fi nancial challenge. Many options exist for students when thinking about where and how to pursue higher education and there are a number of key considerations students can make to reduce the fi nancial burden.


Independent Higher Education One of the easiest ways to reduce the cost of a degree is to choose a high-quality programme with a lower fee. Some independent higher


education institutions off er degrees accredited by universities consistently ranked within the top 50 in the UK, but that cost up to £3,000 less than studying for a degree at the university in question.


Independent institutions can charge fees that are lower than those at traditional universities for a number of reasons. There is no doubt that there are savings to be made on administrative costs and from having smaller property portfolios to manage; independent organisations are able to pass these on to students. In addition, while traditional universities use a high proportion of student fees to pay for research, independent HE


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