Student Power

[Siouxsie]

Interestingly University is still relatively cheap here in comparison to the other top Academic nations. Some of my American friends pay $40,000 a year for tuition alone!

I suspect from talking to my American relatives and friends that the average salary for a graduate is much higher too, as it used to be when I went to university. Now there are so many graduates and unfortunately many are struggling to find jobs with any better pay than if they'd left school at 16.

How many students are going to be prepared to pay £9k a year for a course with only 8 hours a week contact time? Judging from my daughters' friends' experiences there are a fair few courses around that don't seem to be of a high standard or good value for money.

 

[Real Sharapova]

I loved this qoute from a lecturer in The Grauniad today " Kicking in that window was the hardest work my students have done all year ".:icon_bigg

 

[RHYDAL]

Quite right. Gandhi should have been terminated with extreme prejudice.

Gandhi was a racist, not a terrorist.

 

[RHYDAL]

No problem. It might be worth pointing out though that it's a matter of vocabulary and nothing to do with grammar.

I didn't imagine it was possible for anything to be gayer than Graham Norton's butt plug. Your post has proved me wrong.

 

[bocadillo]

I didn't imagine it was possible for anything to be gayer than Graham Norton's butt plug. Your post has proved me wrong.

You can wriggle as much as you like.

 

[homer]

You can wriggle as much as you like.

Getting gayer by the hour........

 

[Macky]

Getting gayer by the hour........

:icon_lol:

 

[Mawsley]

Thrust it to him, Boc.

 

[bocadillo]

Thrust it to him, Boc.

A gay thrust?


Perhaps not.

 

[The Major]

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/laurie-penny/2010/11/young-scary-future-riot-crowd

Glass is being thrown; I fling myself behind a barrier and scramble on to a ledge for safety. A nonplussed school pupil from south London has had the same idea. He grins, gives me a hand up and offers me a cigarette of which he is at least two years too young to be in possession. I find that my teeth are chattering and not just from cold. "It's scary, isn't it?" I ask. The boy shrugs. "Yeah," he says, "I suppose it is scary. But frankly..." He lights up, cradling the contraband fag, "frankly, it's not half as scary as what's happening to our future.

As if.

 

[Cate Fox]

As if.

:icon_lol:

 

[Ian Marshall]

Now that I've got a degree they might as well disband universities and send all the students to work down the mines (maybe in Chile) or dig ditches or whatever.

 

[Real Sharapova]

As if.

I hope you are not suggesting a lazy journo has made something up. Frankly, I find youngsters are using the word " frankly " ever so much these day. Honest. Frankly. Being frank with you. Ask Frank, if you don't believe me.

 

[Ian Marshall]

Frank Lee?

 

[Miles Away]

I find the attitude to students on here laughable tbh. Talk about ridiculous sweeping statements and generalisations.

Interestingly University is still relatively cheap here in comparison to the other top Academic nations. Some of my American friends pay $40,000 a year for tuition alone!

And in regards to protests, this is the tip of the iceberg. I expect there will be bigger more violent protests in the new year

Raises hand...

Being a student is a far dirtier word in Britain than it is Stateside, where higher education is nigh on a requirement for employment.

When I went into University in America I came home for xmas and got so much stick for being a scrounger, work shy, lazy, etc...I found it shocking. All I was doing was trying to extend my education.

Now, as for loans. They can be exorbitant over here. I have many friends in debt up to 200K. The gamble, of course, being that the job the education provides eventually pays for itself.

The average debt for a student using financial aid is 23,000 dollars. No small sum. I am of the opinion that American students and parents should be outraged, much like their English counterparts are.

 

[Willlow]

I admit that when I went to University I wasnt to happy about paying student fees, but this was mainly because Labour had got into power by promising not to introduce them, and then promptly did so.

The simple maths is we cant afford to support all the students who now want to go to University. Maybe a different way would have been to introduce a sliding pay scale in relation to how well you do in GCSEs. If you get A's then you pay less, if you get C's and D's you pay more.

 

[Miles Away]

I admit that when I went to University I wasnt to happy about paying student fees, but this was mainly because Labour had got into power by promising not to introduce them, and then promptly did so.

The simple maths is we cant afford to support all the students who now want to go to University. Maybe a different way would have been to introduce a sliding pay scale in relation to how well you do in GCSEs. If you get A's then you pay less, if you get C's and D's you pay more.

You mean scholarships? Sounds like a terrific idea to me.

 

[Willlow]

You mean scholarships? Sounds like a terrific idea to me.

:icon_lol:

I didnt realise the American one was based on grades, I thought they were just based on if you could throw a ball 100 yards or if you were 7ft.

 

[fitz]

Surely just cutting the number of Universities and pointless courses would help. There are some Unis that allow people with 20 Ucas points in, foundation degrees are also available to people who weren't clever enough to get in properly etc etc. A good mate of mine got a degree despite only getting 2 GCSEs, its worth **** all to him other than more debt to pay off and less work experience.

 

[Miles Away]

:icon_lol:

I didnt realise the American one was based on grades, I thought they were just based on if you could throw a ball 100 yards or if you were 7ft.

There are academic and athletic scholarships. Many of them funded privately, some by the universities themselves, and a few govt funded.

And the athletes are expected to get passing grades and make an attempt at a diploma. Often they turn pro before that happens. But athletic scholarships a terrific way for a less fortunate student to get a degree without gutting themselves financially.