To Uni, or not Uni
### Daniel Cope
**No one on campus is a stranger to tuition fees. If, like me, you’re a fresher who was welcomed to Warwick with £9,000 a year fees looming over you, then you and tuition fees are no doubt hardly the best of pals. This is so much so in the case of recent prospective students that [nearly 54,000 less people started a degree](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20700696) this academic year. This is greatly disheartening to hear. **
Whilst, internships, apprenticeships and the like, can be a more lucrative option in troubled economic times the versatility of university life is still as prominent as ever. Why then are university applications down 8% this year?
On the surface it is obvious. The dramatic increase of fees is a clear deterrent. Who wants to pay to better yourself when you can get a job and progress up the ranks (they even pay you did you know!?) If only it were that easy. However, less people took gap years last year, knowing the alternative is bigger debt. Those students, who would have initially delayed a year to start in 2012, won’t be helping these latest statistics.
UCAS statisticians have also found that even more students are taking gap years this year, probably thinking ‘well the fees can’t get much worse can they?’ (I dare not tempt fate!) The adverse effect of the fees is still resonating so these figures may not be cause for immediate, dramatic concern and we may have to wait for the next academic year to really see what lasting impact this will have on universities.
Given this latest announcement it makes me reflect on those students who accepted places at institutions to avoid paying far more. This may have motivated students to go to a university that they might not have been so passionate about. Rather than feeling able to re-sit their A-Levels to go to their preferred University, students who failed to meet their requirements in 2011 may be paying less but they might not be chuffed about their institution. It will be interesting to see the academic success rates come the end of that year’s tenure at university.
There is some good news though! Latest reports suggest students applying from disadvantaged backgrounds being accepted by universities is on the increase. It would be terrible if the aura surrounding university reverted back to an archaic notion of being accessible only for the ‘socially-privileged’. If it were to do so it then runs the risk of institutions being perceived as a space for the upper echelons of society rather than one of research and academia for all. This notion has no place in today’s university sector, especially considering the expansion beyond the traditional bachelors degree – with other options including Foundation Degrees and Diplomas being available.
{{quote Why focus on the financial limitations of would be university students … tell them what they can do rather, than what they cannot }}
Admittedly, research doesn’t fund itself but I do hope this latest fall in numbers doesn’t further deter any more applicants. Why focus on the financial limitations of would-be university students? Tell them what they _can_ do, rather than what they cannot. Loans are there for a wide variety of peoples, no matter their background.
English universities clearly did something right amidst the backlash last year, as more Welsh students came to study in England. Advertising the highlights of university life has never been more important for institutions if they are combat this continued apprehension.
I do not condone the £9000 fees (it is not as if we are paying for ‘more.’) Although, continuous scaremongering about numbers of university applicants decreasing should not prevent those who want to go. It might be hard to see at the moment but university is, and will continue to be, about making your mark in the world.
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