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British Universities - like most other institutions/companies/people offering goods and services for sale - are more than happy to tell you what the prices are for what they offer.
Those are the prices. Nobody is obliged to pay them.
Notwithstanding the British government's recently-approved plan to increase tuition fees, courses at British universities are still subsidised by the British taxpayers.
If you're not resident in the UK, then (perhaps unsurprisingly) the universities are unlikely to offer you the subsidised price.
There is one glaring anomaly in the tuition fees scheme. EU law requires that no EU member state may charge a citizen of another EU member state more for a service (including tuition) than it charges its own citizens.
A resident of Scotland (a part of an EU member state - the UK) attending a Scottish University pays no tuition fees.
A resident of Germany attending the same university can't be charged more than the Scottish student, so (s)he pays no tuition fees either.
A resident of England attending that university pays tuition fees. England is not in another EU Member State.
The United Kingdom is not the only place in Europe which has outstanding universities. There are others.
If you were to attend a university in Germany for instance, they would probably require you to pass a test to demonstrate your competence in German. - Because the lectures will be delivered in German, most of the books in the libraries will be in German and you will be expected to submit papers in and be examined in German.
If you go to university in Prague, you will find that many of the courses (the books in the libraries, the lectures and the exams) are in English.
Many American students attending British universities are devastated to find that they don't make 'straight A's'.
I encountered one such student some years ago. She had made 'A's in the US, but was making 'B's and 'C's in England.
If 'C' is 'average', then there will (obviously - though apparently not in the US) be people who are above average, people who are below average and people who are average. There's nothing wrong with being 'average'- particularly if the standards required for admission are high and few universities will admit that they accept anybody who applies.
(I was once offered a job teaching in an American university. The explanatory notes they gave me said that I would be expected to award my students 'A's (with the occasional 'B') because all of the students at that university were above average.
Really? The courses offered included mathematics. The induction paperwork gave me serious doubts.
Under the new system, a student could end up paying £80,000 (roughly) for a £39,000 total in loans. Figures estimate that the average graduate makes £100k more than a non-graduate. And the government wants 80%.
Don't forget that university courses in the UK are usually 3 years, and the US 4 years.
Plus a UK degree is valued more than a US degree.
Says who? A degree in what from where?
Worth? What is worth. A degree from a good university or private college in the U.S is equal to the same education at a good school in the UK.
It is a different system and if u don't understand it, you shouldn't make ridiculous statements about it. And schools do not hand out all A's. If you go to a private college your grades tend to be higher because u are paying for it in a different way. Once the UK charges it will follow the same business model.
I have met brilliant students in the states and smart students in the UK. A fair share of idiots too. The ignorant anti-American comments make Brits look bad, and guiltybof the silly false stereotypes that they accuse others of.
On the average, he is right. The US system of accredtiation drags down the recognition of most universities degrees internationally, because it seems complex and confusing to employers who are used to a single national body ensuring minimum standards.
While most potential employers will know of some of the big name universities in the US, Harward etc. and perhaps a couple of more in their specific area, hardly any employers will sit down and learn about the US accreditation system for an applicant. Not when your getting 50+ applications per position.
On the average, he is right. The US system of accredtiation drags down the recognition of most universities degrees internationally, because it seems complex and confusing to employers who are used to a single national body ensuring minimum standards.
While most potential employers will know of some of the big name universities in the US, Harward etc. and perhaps a couple of more in their specific area, hardly any employers will sit down and learn about the US accreditation system for an applicant. Not when your getting 50+ applications per position.
You are talking about HR people not wanting to look at foreign degrees (apparently out of laziness) as opposed to A British university or a British degree being "better" than a US college degree.
The other poster said a UK degree is "better". No, it depends on the university, the effort a student puts in, national ranking, grades, etc. So no neither one is "better".
I also find it odd, are you referring to recent grads and evaluating a degree? I have never seen someone scrutinize a class someone took or a particular grade for any position except for recent grads.
If someone has a BA in English from NYU and someone has one from UCL, same difference. What is their to understand?
You are talking about HR people not wanting to look at foreign degrees (apparently out of laziness) as opposed to A British university or a British degree being "better" than a US college degree.
The other poster said a UK degree is "better". No, it depends on the university, the effort a student puts in, national ranking, grades, etc. So no neither one is "better".
I also find it odd, are you referring to recent grads and evaluating a degree? I have never seen someone scrutinize a class someone took or a particular grade for any position except for recent grads.
If someone has a BA in English from NYU and someone has one from UCL, same difference. What is their to understand?
I can only speak from my experience working in Public Accounting in the USA. We hired from "priority schools" where we knew the accounting program and had a relationship with the professors. We hired for internships and, if the intern did well, they would leave with a firm job offer for after they graduated. While we did, sometimes, hire from outside these priority schools, we were absolutely not set up to hire from non-US schools. The web-site was not designed to handle it and, as a result, HR may not even have seen the candidate. The only way for candidates from non-US schools to circumvent the internet process was to know someone who could get them an interview.
Increasingly, the application process in the US (and possibly elsewhere) is web driven and that is the initial screening process. As most US corporations hire predominantly from US universities, their web process is tailored to that and that places an important obstacle in the way of candidates from non US universities.
Yes, indeed, but it doesn't make an American or British degree "better" than one or the other which is what other posters are claiming. Sometimes a native degree is preferred for ease.
I think many British are becoming extremely unaware of their own edcuational system and the world in general. Right now primary UK and secondary (US elementary and secondary education) in the UK ranks many slots behind the US and the US educational system is quite lagging and overall inefficient.
Better = more likly to secure an interview. Or in some cases, more attractive to an employer.
When foreign graduates apply for jobs, the first hurdle is in the mind of the person(s) reviewing the application. "Does this person have the relevant skills we are looking for?" Information about the quality and content of a UK degree is fairly easily available, and often people are already familiar with the system.
The US, by comparison, is more complex, and probably won't be checked out, unless the applicant is truly exceptional. UK degrees are often pre-recognized, while getting a US degree recognized can be a long process.
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) I was at a meeting last night hearing about the situation regarding fees.
