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Revealed: How Universities Spend Your Tuition Fees

Most students across the UK pay the maximum tuition fee rate of £9,250. This is covered in a system of loans which are only paid back once the student earns enough money after graduation. But how is that money allocated? Student groups are always concerned with the value for money aspect of higher education. Now, a recent survey from HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) has shown precisely how this is broken down in terms of how universities spend that money.

 

The Problem with Student Finance

Since the introduction of tuition fees in the early part of the last decade, the system has been fraught with problems. The idea is that students apply for loans which will cover their cost of living, and separate loans to cover their tuition fees. This is all means tested. The lower your household income, the more money you are entitled to. However, there are also university-based bursaries and funds, so students are not wholly dependent on loans.

But the system is due for review in 2019 due to a massive shortfall in the number of students eligible to pay back their loans coupled with a recent warning that the current system does not adequately cover students’ actual expenditure.

 

The Cost of Teaching: 39%

This covers the wages of academic staff, the course equipment (purchase, replacement and repair), and other staff-related costs such as liability insurance. Teaching, all associated costs, is presently the largest area of expenditure for how the tuition fees are divided.

 

Infrastructure: 36%

The second largest area is infrastructure. This category includes buildings maintenance and upkeep, IT network and library services, the university sports facilities, information services such as career help, admissions services, non-academic staff, welfare and general administration.

 

The Student Experience: 17%

Of course, there is more to the student life than education. There is research into teaching methods, enhancing the existing teaching framework, how the university goes about its own academic research, and the other aspects of the student experience. This is the third largest area.

 

Professional Services: 8%

This covers everything from balancing the books, marketing and outreach, and the pay of senior employees such as the Vice Chancellor. For a university to survive, it needs a constant supply of eager students through the doors. For that, it needs marketing. Like any other business, it also needs accounts.

 

What is HEPI?

The Higher Education Policy Institute is the UK’s only independent think tank that looks at higher education. They regularly publish reports on a range of issues. This current report on how universities spend tuition fees concluded with a call for higher education institutions to publicly release information about how they spend student finance. The figures presented above are an accumulated average. Some institutions will vary on the proportions.