University fee increase could have serious implications for dental students
A review of university finances conducted by Lord Browne has recommended an increase in university tuition fees, which could have serious implications for prospective students.
At the moment it is not clear if the government will choose to use Lord Browne’s review as a base for new policy; however, it is likely that university fees will increase significantly in the coming years. Universities will lose a proportion of state funding as a result of budget cuts, which have been introduced to try and reduce the country’s ever-increasing deficit.
If the review is used as a foundation for future policy, dental and medical students could be worse affected, as their courses are significantly longer than others. At the moment figures of £7,000 per year are being bandied about but there is also some talk of an unlimited annual fee which will be determined by individual universities. Students could potentially be coming out of universities with debts of up to £100,000.
Many students struggle to find a job when they come out of university and as a result they are faced with paying interest on their student loans; although the limit to start paying off the loan will be increased as fees increase, it is believed that the huge debts associated with going to university in the future will put a large number of students off.
A decrease in medical and dental student numbers could have huge implications in the future; if people do not go to university they will not get the training and qualifications they need to become a doctor or a dentist and this means there could be a shortage of trained professionals further down the line.
An announcement on the new policy is set to be made soon but for now students must wait to see how the spending cuts will affect them.
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The likely fees increase stinks. My elder son, who is doing his A-Levels and wants to study Chemical Engineering will end up with a mortgage-sized debt and we cannot help him.
University is no longer worth it. Sheer greed has seen to that. And nowhere is it more blatant than amongst that Elitist Cartel (sorry, the Russell group). May they fail and rot.