This week, once again, the students of Britain have united and mobilised to highlight the plight facing undergraduates regarding University fees.
Each nation has their own way of paying for University fees - government subsidies are very common in Europe for example with some countries like Ireland in 1997 deciding to provide "free" education to all, with third level education fees abolished and covered by the tax payer and this approach is common across the EU with the UK a notable exception. The United States is a marked contrast where it is not unusual for graduates to leave University with a degree and a $100,000 loan for their efforts.
University education should be accessible to any student that has the desire and ability to succeed and crippling fees are an unacceptable barrier that we should all discourage. Pricing whole sections of soceity out of higher education is a discrimination against those who do not have the means to pay for it and consigns some of the most capable students to the education scrap heap. Academic ability and desire to succeed should be the only criteria for entry to University - not the income of one's family.
This week we held our first University training seminar for DesignSpark PCB at the prestigous Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). This was a joint effort between the TU/e and RS Components - with many of their students having already started to work with DesignSpark PCB there was a strong desire to give undergraduates, post-graduates and researchers the opportunity to cover an overview of the PCB design process, work through the various features of the tool, create a design, work through the stages from schematic to gerber files and of course ask questions along the way.
PCB design experience is absent amonst many undergraduates and an area that is often scarcely covered in University courses. My Electronics engineering degree course barely touched on this topic. Costs of licensing a decent tool is one of the main barriers and of course one of the barriers we have strived to remove with DesignSpark PCB. In the current economic climate University budgets are under pressure as never before, so this issue is magnified.
So, I am quite delighted to report this event was a resounding success. A massive thank you to the TU/e for their forward thinking and their support - and to the researchers, graduates and post-grads for taking time out from their already busy schedules to participate across four sessions, over two days.
There are many ways that we who have already graduated and started working in industry can help Universities and students - from supporting training events, to donating unwanted development boards, scopes/meters or components - I would urge anyone that wants to give something back to get in touch with their local University or the University they graduated from and see what you can do to help.
P.S. Many of our DesignSpark members are either working or studing in Universities. If you believe that your Uni would benefit from a training session do get in touch to discuss your ideas.
JED
The United States is different in many respects, but you misuse the word unusual.
As a little searching on the web will prove, the average debt for graduating students is about $23,000 after an average of 5 1/2 years of study. Many students are not really prepared and need remedial courses before they are ready for REAL university courses. Average costs are close to $20,000 a year, so for most students to build up $100,000 in debt means that they earn nothing, contribute nothing, their parents contribute nothing, and they borrow everything for 5 years. This is possible but an unusually bad idea.
The US is also BIG - about the population of all of Europe - so things are different in different states and in different fields, but this generalization is generally true.
Doctors have more debt, of course, but also get the best lifetime average return on their investment in school. For this single class of students, $100,000 after 8-10 years more of school might not be "unusual" but for most students it is.
mnphysicist
Med school tuition runs about $50K/year, then add in the often high costs of living, and its not unrealistic for a 1st yr resident to be stuck with $250K or more in deb for 8-10 yrst. If one decides to follow the path of MD/PHD it can be even higher... I too have seen the $23K figure, and it seems far too low, even with parental help and grants. I wonder if the figure is lower as it includes 2 year programs?
Education used to be a priority in the US, less so in my era, and as of the last 5-10 yrs in MN, post secondary ed has served as a convenient way to solve state budgeting issues by shifting expenses from the state to the individual student. If one adds in the near unlimited amounts of student loan money available (ie such loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy), tuition is pretty much free to rise unchecked. The problem of course, is sooner or later light bulbs will come on, that even if you make the young perpetual serfs, they will never have the earning power to repay those loans.
Ultimately, its a matter of priorities. Right now investment capital is worshiped, even over work, much less education.
LStacey
Those are some interesting and somewhat shocking figures!
Should knowledge really come at such a high price?
mnphysicist
I dont think so... but such views are a rarity. Here in MN we wont step up to the plate education wise, but feel it perfectly fine to pay prisons $80K/year to house each prisoner, and we have more and more non violent offenders locked up all the time. Its a very reversed value system when locking non-violent folks away is more important than education, healthcare, or even food for the less fortunate.
LStacey
Now there's an interesting counterpoint. Definitely food for thought!