Bloody students

[Lee]

Always after a free lunch, that's the trouble. Too busy squandering their money on dope and partys. Irrisponsible, short-sighted fools sucking the blood and money from this country.

That is so stereotypical. I’ll have you know that I work very hard for my degree and at least made the effort rather than just giving up on my education and getting a dead end job. The idea that top-up fees are even being introduced is ridiculous. Not to mention something that the Labour party went to the last election with saying that it was something they would not introduce.

Rather than introducing this absolutely ludicrous fee that will increase student debt and won’t actually solve the amount of debt that universities are in, wouldn’t Mr. Blair and Mr. Brown find it more practical to concentrate on cutting down on the extortionate amount of money wasted in government bureaucracy and channelling some of that money into education?

[Shad]

Ah I thought this might provoke an interesting few reactions

I'm surprised more people don't agree with me though. I guess I was a bit stereotypical with my views... but can you blame me? Students as a whole don't exactly have a gleaming reputation.

Re the whole "buying a house/having family/etc", well nobody's forcing that upon you. You don't /have/ to start a family when you leave uni; you don't /have/ to buy a house.

I still think you lot complain too much. Tax payers are still paying (one way or another) for your education you know, so be grateful!

[jcoquillon]

I don't want to get em-brawled in an argument about this subject. I feel many people go to university who aren't suited to it and it's them who really cost the money. For students who go to get a degree though the amount of money you end up in debt if you fail a degree is scary. Before you even begin your working career you can have a huge debt and nothing really to show for it.

Being a student is a bit of a doss at times but the work load can be unbelievable at other times not to mention the pressure. There is a reason large numbers of students suffer from bouts of depression. I feel the people who really complain about us are those who weren't up to going themselves and it's their way of dealing with the jealousy. If you want a decent job, or want to be able to start your career not right at the bottom university is the only option.

[Lee]

Ah I thought this might provoke an interesting few reactions

I'm surprised more people don't agree with me though. I guess I was a bit stereotypical with my views... but can you blame me? Students as a whole don't exactly have a gleaming reputation.

I think you are mixing up university students with school students to be perfectly honest. At university there is a code of conduct expected to be upheld by its students. If you don’t and are caught you are out! At my university there is a very high behaviour protocol and I wouldn’t dream of breaking it. After all we are supposed to be the more intelligent and sensible sector of Britain’s population so are we not better behaved?

Re the whole "buying a house/having family/etc", well nobody's forcing that upon you. You don't /have/ to start a family when you leave uni; you don't /have/ to buy a house.

What if we want to start a family and are restricted by the financial ramifications of our time at university? Indeed we don’t have to, but it is our own personal choice at the end of the day. I find what you said to be rather selfish.

I still think you lot complain too much. Tax payers are still paying (one way or another) for your education you know, so be grateful!

When have we ever said we are ungrateful?

[Russ]

when u get drunk with ur loan money

[Lee]

when u get drunk with ur loan money

Most students have to work whilst at university to fund their own personal activities. I think our loan money is long gone on tuition fees and accommodation costs before we even make it to the student bar. Again with the stereotypical student attitude.

[Russ]

i know people, its not a theory mate, who spend the loan in a week of having it on beer and clothes.

[Lee]

i know people, its not a theory mate, who spend the loan in a week of having it on beer and clothes.

Very bold and broad statement you make. I think you may be in the minority then to know such folk.

I personally speak from experience and know that most of my fellow students do take a little more responsibility with their cash.

[directhex]

The standard student loan is approx £4000 per annum. Tuition fees are £1000, accommodation about £2500.

That leaves slightly under £10 a month for living expenses such as food & bills, and books etc for courses.

So don't bloody well suggest that the people who waste their loans on crack and whores are anything less than the spoiled little babies that mummy and daddy are paying for.

Or, perhaps, you'd like to have a delicate surgical operation performed by someone trained at the "school of life", rather than someone who spends five years getting themselves into £20000 of debt so they can be underpaid by the NHS, just so they can be trained enough to not sever a vital artery?

[floppybootstomp]

it's a strange thing, but nobody, when you're at school says 'go start a company, go work for yourself'

They always say 'Seek a job' Which means working for somebody else.

Never could understand that.

Of course, it does take a little bit of worldly experience to work for yourself, not to mention a whole lot of guts and determination.

But, whatever, I digress.

Those who knock (the greater majority of ) students are usually smug, self-satisfied gits without any compassion whatsoever and usually in possession of a real mean streak.

Students, well, some of them, are our future.

Instead of standing in one's own corner and viewing the world from their own shoes, these haters should really try and take a bigger overview.

Selfish indeed.

There will always be some stuidents who take the p**s, but they're in the minority, in my experience.

If you're studying, don't be discouraged, all you have to do at the end of your course is lie a lot, move around a bit and put off repaying that loan for as long as possible.

And having a family, buying a house should be a choice, not a privileged luxury.

We're human beings, and some of us like that stuff.

Oops, this wine's good, have I said too much?

[Stoo]

Sure some people (small minority) go mad at uni and blow their loans etc in a few weeks, but what do you expect, most of them are 18, fresh out of school and living away from home for the very first time. Then the vast majority settle down, and work their guts out for the next 3 or 4 years, if they don't they usually end up dropping out.

The real killer is that after 4 years (plus all the other years of college, high school, etc etc) of hard work and a lot of stress at uni, you find there aren't any jobs anymore. Oh and you have a large mountain of debt.

I went to uni to better myself and to have better prospects, but I actually find that I'm in a worse situation than before I started, overqualified for some jobs, not experienced enough for others.

It's bad enough to be constantly rejected for the few jobs that do come up (the glut of IT bods with 5+ years experience makes it *really* difficult), then you get bitched at by people who haven't got a clue, and spout the same tired clichés

[scottyman]

Look at this from my perspective - I dropped out of Uni when I was 18, as I couldn't afford to study and work at the same time - it was a good call for me, as there is no way I could get funding to study due to my circumstances.

10 years down the line, I can finally afford to go back to varsity, but there is no way I'm going to do a bachelors degree, so I'm straight into doing my Masters. It's bloody tough, but good fun - and note well that loads of people on my course are in exactly the same position. We've had to save for years to afford the course, we've gotten used to the finer things in life - and now we're all suffering.
I think little 18-year olds should be forced to go out and work for a year, if only to get an appreciation of what they're going to be getting into once the leave Uni, and to see if it's worth investing 3 years into something that may be worthless in the end, but there has to be assurances from the Govt. that students of all ages will be able to afford the repayment terms on their loans.

[TiG]

Well i'm suprised at your attitude Shad, But just a few things from my point of view on the issue. I was lucky enough to go to Uni with Grants and I was lucky enough to be the year before fees came in, so I got a full Grant £1680 per year, which thankfully almost covered my rent the standard halls cost me £1980 in the first year.

I went to uni having saved up £3300 through working as a cleaner in the local middle school for 18 months and I worked all summers while on holiday. First year at an industrial placement at BT but that cost me to live there so it didn't make me as much money as it could have but it was great for experience.

But regardless managed to put away £1000 a summer to help pay for the next year.

But 3 years of Uni cost me £15K. £5k paid for by the state, 10K paid for by me. I had to take out a student loan etc to pay for it all, but i've thankfully paid it all of fairly quickly with my new Job.

The new rules would mean fairly little to me, i'd have had another £5k to pay off where i didn't get the grants but that wouldn't be the problem Shad, as what you've got to understand here is that I doubt i'd have gone to Uni because how could i predict that i'd get a decent job from it?. All the stereotypical stories of Student with Honors degree working in McDonalds etc.....

The whole point of fees is to help the Uni's out as they haven't got enough money as I understand it?. Well surely more students helps them out. Increase fees and the numbers drop again and you get it into a worse situation.

University should be a priveledge anyone should be able to do if they can prove that they truely want to learn, anyone who just wants to stay out the system for another 3/4 years should be stopped, that should be the criteria for funding for uni, want to doss about pay for it yourself, want to learn and better yourself and its free.

There is no way i'd be earning now what i'm earning without a degree.
I pay my taxes just like the next person, going to Uni has made me what I am today, it gave me as a niave inexperienced 18yr old the chance to make new friends, learn my trade and live on my own terms for the first time in my life.

Something I needed to do, How dare Tony Blair put barriers in peoples way.

TiG

[Elmo]

First of all, If uni isnt for you, that's up to you. For many people, in order to do what they want to do, they have to go to uni in order to do it. That uni course comes with a hefty debt at the end of it. It's not a total of £3k, it's more likelye to be about £3k a year they work up, at least. Even when i'm living in scotland, without having to pay tuition fees, i will still have worked up a debt of about £10k at the end of my course, and that's with half the loan i'm intitled to.

You chose to take out a loan of £11k because you were financially secure. Do you pay rent to your parents/have a mortguage? if so how much do you pay? do you pay all the bills?

Graduates dont always get a decent paid job at the end of their degree. Some sectors are saturated by the time they graduate. It's not always black and white.

[TomWilko]

UNI students don't have a good reputation, and i think on quite a few of the 'softer' courses this is where the reputation comes from. For me UNI is almost like a full time job, its as tiring (i know because i have had a full time job for a while) and then if you do want to avoid all the debt, u have to have a part time job to add to the extra time being eaten up from doing your studies (I do have a part time job.)

But still, i won't complain about it because i do enjoy myself...but £3000 a year is a ridiculous amount of money to pay, as it stands the money already needed to pay is a little high, so never mind about double again I would say something needs to be paid back from the students who go though, because it can be a very care-free lifestyle if thats how you want to live it...

[Kezzer]

I have to pay 8k a year to go to uni so i'm allowed to complain