Looking at the author’s career, I’m not surprised she hasn’t been able to pay off her loans. Going to one of the most prestigious universities in the world isn’t cheap, and freelance writing and political charity from third world countries aren’t careers known for the return on investment they bring.
I’m not sure what kind of jobs a masters in “Comparative Politics” is supposed to net you, but I can’t imagine anyone taking out these loans without realising that they’ll be in debt for a long time. The estimated £81k will take you a long time to pay back even with a good job and without the interest. This is after her parents already paid for her first years of studying and traveling the world.
Even if tuition was completely free, she’d still need to get £30k from somewhere to cover her living expenses for those two years. The money charged for higher education in many countries is absurd, but don’t write “my master’s degree from a well-respected university still holds a lot of weight” when you chose to waste so much money on an academic spirit journey.
You can spend six years to become the best poet in the world, but if you can’t support yourself for that time, maybe pick another career path.
That might be true in our hellscape, but it is in no way valid. It’s entirely the society’s fault for not creating the material conditions that would allow all people including her to live in comfort to study such things.
In a Star Trek post-scarcity world, I would totally agree, make all forms of education free.
However, the in real life, the UK government is investing tens of billions into their higher education, and unless foreign governments offer to match that investment for their citizens, foreign students will have to pay the difference out of pocket.
If students of these universities were to remain in the countries they studied and contributed back to the local economy, I would agree with programmes to pay these loans back over the years, but students like her take off and go home after getting their degree. The UK is pretty shit in terms of tuitions already, but expecting them to pay up for foreigners would be absolutely ridiculous.
This isn’t some kind of scheme where a poor kid couldn’t afford their local community college, this was someone choosing to go to a top-10 university in a field that they knew they wouldn’t make much money in.
I feel bad for the Indian foreign student whose family banded together to get a loan so their daughter/son/nephew/niece could rise out of poverty and bring prosperity back to their family, not so much for the American adult who decided to take out a life-altering loan for a life of badly paid charity work, running university studies, and freelance writing.
You’ve said UK a couple of times there but I don’t think that’s what you meant. In Scotland for instance tuition is paid for by a government body with no expectation to pay it back, you’ll normally get your fees paid for your first run through University plus one repeat year if needed. Additional grants and bursaries are available if required, and student loans are also available if you still can’t cover living expenses.
I’m not too sure on the details so I could be wrong, but my understanding of the residency requirements is that you need to be either a UK national or settled immigrant and have been living anywhere in the UK for a few years. You’ll also need to be living in Scotland specifically when the course starts.
If you’re moving to Scotland just to study you’ll have to pay out of pocket, but if you’re in Scotland long-term you’re probably fine. I’d recommend speaking to an advisor to be sure.
Looking at the author’s career, I’m not surprised she hasn’t been able to pay off her loans. Going to one of the most prestigious universities in the world isn’t cheap, and freelance writing and political charity from third world countries aren’t careers known for the return on investment they bring.
I’m not sure what kind of jobs a masters in “Comparative Politics” is supposed to net you, but I can’t imagine anyone taking out these loans without realising that they’ll be in debt for a long time. The estimated £81k will take you a long time to pay back even with a good job and without the interest. This is after her parents already paid for her first years of studying and traveling the world.
Even if tuition was completely free, she’d still need to get £30k from somewhere to cover her living expenses for those two years. The money charged for higher education in many countries is absurd, but don’t write “my master’s degree from a well-respected university still holds a lot of weight” when you chose to waste so much money on an academic spirit journey.
You can spend six years to become the best poet in the world, but if you can’t support yourself for that time, maybe pick another career path.
That might be true in our hellscape, but it is in no way valid. It’s entirely the society’s fault for not creating the material conditions that would allow all people including her to live in comfort to study such things.
In a Star Trek post-scarcity world, I would totally agree, make all forms of education free.
However, the in real life, the UK government is investing tens of billions into their higher education, and unless foreign governments offer to match that investment for their citizens, foreign students will have to pay the difference out of pocket.
If students of these universities were to remain in the countries they studied and contributed back to the local economy, I would agree with programmes to pay these loans back over the years, but students like her take off and go home after getting their degree. The UK is pretty shit in terms of tuitions already, but expecting them to pay up for foreigners would be absolutely ridiculous.
This isn’t some kind of scheme where a poor kid couldn’t afford their local community college, this was someone choosing to go to a top-10 university in a field that they knew they wouldn’t make much money in.
I feel bad for the Indian foreign student whose family banded together to get a loan so their daughter/son/nephew/niece could rise out of poverty and bring prosperity back to their family, not so much for the American adult who decided to take out a life-altering loan for a life of badly paid charity work, running university studies, and freelance writing.
You’ve said UK a couple of times there but I don’t think that’s what you meant. In Scotland for instance tuition is paid for by a government body with no expectation to pay it back, you’ll normally get your fees paid for your first run through University plus one repeat year if needed. Additional grants and bursaries are available if required, and student loans are also available if you still can’t cover living expenses.
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I’m not too sure on the details so I could be wrong, but my understanding of the residency requirements is that you need to be either a UK national or settled immigrant and have been living anywhere in the UK for a few years. You’ll also need to be living in Scotland specifically when the course starts.
If you’re moving to Scotland just to study you’ll have to pay out of pocket, but if you’re in Scotland long-term you’re probably fine. I’d recommend speaking to an advisor to be sure.
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We need to completely restructure society to make it possible then.
I’d rather not live in a society that allows anyone to study in the London School of Eliteism.