► Top-Up Fees and Student Debt
Stop the Increase in Top-up Fees
If the cap is lifted universities will be able to charge whatever they want. Most will charge in excess of £5000 per year, and those higher up the league table closer to £10,000 a year!
Already, lower income families are vastly under-represented in higher education. Increasing fees again will mean university will only be available to those who can afford it.
We need a mass campaign involving students across the UK, to say no to the lifting of the cap and to raise the debate on tuition fees and equal access once more.
Upcoming Activities: things to watch out for…
The giant ‘Wall of Debt’:
How much debt will you be in? Add it to the giant wall, which will be hung from a university building near you…
Local rally & debate on higher education funding:
Over the past decade we have seen tuition fees increasing and students finding themselves with spiraling levels of debt.
The maintenance loan barely covers the cost of rent for three terms, let alone money for food, travel and study materials.
Three in four students are forced to take on part-time work to support their full-time studies, whilst some have had to drop out of university unable to afford to stay.
Students from lower-income backgrounds are more likely to take on a high number of hours in paid employment than students from wealthier backgrounds, creating a big disadvantage.
What’s more interest rates on the student loan are so high that the majority of students will have years of financial difficulties after leaving university.
At the same time University Vice-Chancellors are enjoying six-figure salaries. It’s time to say NO to rising levels of student debt and tell the government the system needs to change.
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN – FOR MORE INFO EMAIL campaigns@upsu.com
‘Students in the Red’
The average debt for a student on a 3 year course has already exceeded £15,000. This year the government is considering lifting the £3,000 a year cap on top-up fees.
