I warmly invite the OP and all STW-ers to fill their educational boots at any free museum/s of their choosing – when they reopen and observing all social distancing requirements
So if its OK to get free education from a museum, why do you think its not OK to get free education from a university course?
I still fancy doing something, I am 50 so am not realistically doing it for my career, I just want to learn for fun
Now there are so many course and or info online that if you are learning just for fun you can do so without doing an accredited course.
True, and that is probably the route I will take, maybe mixed with a couple of OU paid for courses, but there isn’t quite the same sense of achievement at the end as having earned a degree.
“The tax payer” funds many things that sections of society find fun, from swimming pools, to public footpaths and even roads...
...But if you prefer education and sport to be limited to only the wealthy, well shame on you.
You know that people pay to use swimming pools - albeit they may be subsidised? And that the OU is subsidised. Your argument is a bit like saying, OMG it used to only be 60p to go swimming now a session is £3.50. The tax payer also funds things like the free BBC Bitesize learning stuff, the free bits of OU, etc. So its not like they don't support things like you are wanting, just not the particular format you wanted.
FWIW I suspect you'll find that degrees are quite the achievement you think they are - to me they are an endurance test not a particular challenge - yes a 1st class honours (I didn't get one!) might be a real mark of success but anyone with a basic mental aptitude, enough time and the commitment to stick to it can get a basic degree. That's not to dismiss them because they do have a benefit over your ad hoc training: some kind of overall structure and syllabus. Sometimes to be really good at something you have to endure learning the less fun, or seemingly less relevant parts too; beware:
If you’ve got any kind of knack/natural talent just crack on surely, no better way to learn!
...is a sure fire way to develop bad habits or turn an easy job into a massive nightmare...
Personally though if I was going to spend your original budget on "learning" I'd probably look at udemy, codeacademy etc.
Did the old business model of £600 courses not work? Have they upped the content/teaching/resources THAT much that it justifies the hike or is it just everyone has done it so they joined in?
The courses cost more to deliver than £600 back then too (though there has been plenty of improvements since, resources per student across HE were at a major low in the late 90s/early 00s, hence the fee increases), but back then the govt subsidy was provided as direct grant to providers, rather than student loan write-offs.
Why did it shift you might ask? Partly because of the aformentioned squeeze on finances that led to the introduction of £3k and £9k fees. Partly because the shift to loans meant funding shifted from DEL to AME expenditure in the govt accounts (and - helpfully for HE - became much harder for govt to squeeze in the same way it's squeezed e.g. NHS funding since 2010 - HE got away comparatively lightly during post-GFC austerity). And partly because of accounting rules that are too complicated for me to explain: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-fiscal-illusion-has-gone-but-what-has-replaced-it/
OU also penalised by the REF system which government uses to rank & determine funding levels.
It means all unis must focus on research they produce, there’s no exception for a distance learning uni like the OU. So they have to have much more physical infrastructure & staffing.
Thats an interesting problem, and a fair point. I wonder though if things like current Covid crisis will highlight you don't really need as much physical infrastructure as people though (especially for a virtual uni). Even more though, I wonder if there aren't those who did PhD's who end up in industry (so not actively publishing) who would quite enjoy being part of a "citizen science" project purely for the hell of it, who would find the OU could provide a framework for cooperation, research and advancing publications that as private individuals is a huge hurdle... and in return the OU for "hosting" that (and possibly providing some degree of vetting) would gain their citation scores?
You could try the apprenticeship levy direction if what your doing is relevant to the company you work for (probably not in the learning for fun side of things).
Yonks back in the 90s I was a bit bored at work so did a second degree in Maths with the OU then wandered off and did some of their Maths MSC course. Was very cheap back then, under £200 a course IIRC. Then I bought a house and DIY ate up all my spare time.
Back then it was 'hobby' prices, quite affordable if you just wanted to learn something for fun.
One thing I will say is the quality of their undergrad course material was absolutely superb - beautifully structured and very easy to study on your own. The MSC was completely different as it wasn't really in the OU mould and just outsourced to a random lecturer at a bricks and mortar Uni for each module, so photocopied hand written lecture notes.
Wrong. See link I posted on previous page – 30% are forecast to repay in full and on average borrowers will pay back 53% of their loans over the 30 year term.
So most will just have a huge debt hanging over them for the rest of their life?
Affecting mortgage applications, credit rating etc
Being stuck in a debt hole is grim, the government should not be piling on more
@kimbers sorry, you're talking out of your arse 😂 student loans DO NOT go on file so have no bearing on mortgage, credit rating etc as the lenders will not be aware of them.
So most will just have a huge debt hanging over them for the rest of their life?Affecting mortgage applications, credit rating etc
Being stuck in a debt hole is grim, the government should not be piling on more
Student loan debt doesn't affect your credit rating. It affects mortgage applications insofar as it's another demand on your salary, just like a car loan. But with repayments at £15 a month on a ~£28k salary it's hardly going to be the straw that stops you getting on the property ladder. If your salary drops below £27,725/year (or the monthly/weekly equivalent depending on how often you get paid) you stop repaying, and don't restart until it goes above the threshold again.
Also given any unpaid debt is cancelled after 30 years at no detriment to the borrower, it's hardly like a Wonga loan. Or a mortgage or a PCH deal for that matter.
If you're going to criticise the system - and it does have plenty of flaws - at least get some facts straight.
EDIT: zilog beat me to it with a much more pithy response 😀
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Lifes too short to bicker online
FWIW I suspect you’ll find that degrees are quite the achievement you think they are – to me they are an endurance test not a particular challenge – yes a 1st class honours (I didn’t get one!) might be a real mark of success but anyone with a basic mental aptitude, enough time and the commitment to stick to it can get a basic degree.
Time being a critical component. When you're working and otherwise getting on with life its easy for one curveball to **** your entire year up. Distance learning isn't the gentle stroll you're making it out to be.
scruff9252
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Lifes too short to bicker online
Too right mate. A bit of pub banter but deteriorates into a blow by blow rebuff. I wouldn’t worry too much about it 👍
Personally though if I was going to spend your original budget on “learning” I’d probably look at udemy, codeacademy etc.
I'd certainly be very careful with some of the courses on there though. Udemy always have special offers, so don't pay full price, but then they also have quite a few free Youtube courses which have been pirated. So definitely check Youtube first to see if the same content is there for free by the original creator first.
Really depends on what you're interested in learning. Programming language or something then there no way in hell udemy and co would even get a cent out of me. For something totally different to what I do now and a totally different faculty to my Uni days, but not wanting a 3 year commitment, I'd be looking for stuff like MIT free lectures.
i'd much rather give a few bob to a real University for online courses, where you can be certain that it is genuine, quality, educational content.
I did start doing an intro to quantum mechanics (free Youtube thing), but it felt like my brain was going to implode.
At the moment, someone who earns £27,725 per year is required to make student loan repayments of £15 per month. Is that so unreasonable?
On the philosophical point of people paying tuition fees, yes it is unreasonable. We don't make people pay back unemployment benefit, or anyone who has treatment on the NHS so why single out tertiary education? Graduates generally earn a bit more but all that means is that they will pay more tax anyway, why saddle them with loans that have an excessive interest rate? Plenty of the graduate that work in my (very well paid) industry do worry about their loans and are very glad of the "extra" money they have after they have paid them off. I'm glad I was at uni in the '90s. The grants might have been shit by then but at least I was lumbered with (too much) debt at the end of it.