Britain to crack down on rip-off degree courses, reduce maximum fees by universities
Britain to crack down on rip-off degree courses, reduce maximum fees by universities
London
The British government on Monday announced plans to crack down on rip-off degree courses that don’t enhance skills or provide better jobs to students and taxpayers.
The new plan was announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who said the degree courses that don’t land good jobs or better outcomes will be curbed and announced a cut in maximum fees charged by universities.
As per the new plan, the government will ask the Office for Students (OfS) to limit the number of seats universities can recruit into such courses that fail to deliver good outcomes.
A UK government official said that England has some of the best universities in the world but some courses are burdening students with debt, low income and poor job prospects.
The reports of the Office for Students show that nearly 3 in 10 graduates do not progress into highly skilled jobs or further study 15 months after graduating.
One in five graduates would be better off financially if they hadn’t gone to university, a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed.
The government is also planning to reduce the maximum fee that universities can charge for classroom-based foundation year courses. The fees had been reduced to 5,760 pounds from earlier 9,250 pounds currently.
Commenting on the development, PM Rishi Sunak said, “The UK is home to some of the best universities in the world and studying for a degree can be immensely rewarding.
But too many young people are being sold a false dream and end up doing a poor-quality course at the taxpayers’ expense that doesn’t offer the prospect of a decent job at the end of it.
That is why we are taking action to crack down on rip-off university courses while boosting skills training and apprenticeships provision,” he added.
UK Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said, “Students and taxpayers rightly expect value for money and a good return on the significant financial investment they make in higher education.
These new measures will crack down on higher education providers that continue to offer poor quality courses and send a clear signal that false promises can’t be allowed to be sold to students.”
