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March 18, 2009
UK University Fees are Needlessly High says RDI
At a time when universities are pushing for higher tuition fees, online distance learning specialist, RDI (www.rdi.co.uk), points out that the cost of delivering undergraduate education can be kept under control and there is no need to hit young people and their parents in the wallet by charging in excess of £3,500 a year for a degree course.
According to a recent BBC survey, more than half of university heads want students to pay at least £5,000 per year, or for there to be no ceiling on tuition fees so institutions can charge what they choose. The government is due to review university fees this year and arguments are already raging about whether the present £3,500 cap should be lifted.
Rise doesn't reflect true cost
Dr Philip Hallam, CEO of RDI, comments: “The call for a rise in tuition fees doesn’t really reflect any necessary increase in the delivery costs of quality education. Universities need to look more closely at their resource usage, learning models and how they might integrate modern technology to lower costs and improve the effectiveness of learning. Many of our university partners are already working with us in this area and the results are astounding in terms of quality, value for money, completion rates and widening participation. Other universities would do well to follow suit.”
Students face larger and larger debt
He adds: “These days, many universities are investing in, for example, new buildings which are typically 50% utilised, and not allocating sufficient funds towards improving their use of efficient and effective learning technologies. This is at a time when UK Plc is generally tightening its belt, examining its operating efficiencies and trying to be leaner and fitter. Students could face debts of up to £32,000 upon graduation* if tuition fees reach £7,000 a year and RDI maintains that these increases should not be necessary based on the cost of delivering a degree course. Universities must consider both their business model and their learning model before imposing higher charges.”
RDI can provide an identical distance learning degree on an "earn as you learn" basis (i.e. the student continues to work while they study) and the cost of (e.g.) a full BA (Hons) Business when taken via RDI and their distance learning partner university, is just £4,750. In comparison, universities have been charging each student a minimum of £9,000 over 3 years in tuition fees and also receive at least a further £9000 per student from the taxpayer for an identical campus based programme. And now universities are asking for even more funds.
RDI offers an alternative
So how does RDI deliver UK university education so affordably? Students access their learning resources and tutors 52 weeks a year instead of 36, so students can spread their studies more effectively around an existing job. RDI only pay's its tutors when they teach so avoids the usual public sector staffing inefficiencies and it doesn't have have to contribute to expensive public sector final salary pension schemes. RDI is operated as a lean and accountable business and, as a result, fees paid by students are kept down.
Dr Philip Hallam adds: “At present, there’s a ‘smoke and mirrors’ mystique as to how universities operate and control their costs. But this needs to change and the current row over tuition fees might bring this about. UK universities should be run in a more transparent way – without constantly hitting the pockets of young people and their parents."
Meanwhile, young people starting university this September can save thousands on their degree or diploma by signing up for an online distance learning course with RDI. Thanks to RDI’s new ‘pay as you go’ system, higher education is gentle on the wallet: the fee to study a degree is just £99 a month for the first year of study, followed by £125 a month.
In a recent RDI survey, 82.2% of students agreed that distance learning worked efficiently for them, 73.8% felt their confidence had grown as a result of the studies and 82.6% considered their workload manageable. And 83.9% felt that the distance learning course had stimulated their interest in further study.
RDI currently has around 7,000 students enrolled in its academic body and distance learning courses are available at MBA, MSc, BA (Hons), Diploma and Advanced Certificate level. Around 4,000 of the students are studying through RDI at a variety of top universities and this figure is growing by 20% a year.
Students can study and share ideas from any location with an internet connection using RDI’s educational answer to Facebook, called ‘iLearn’, which rolls an online university, online campus and classroom into one.
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RDI partners with UK universities to offer distance learning courses.
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