27 Apr Reimburse or not reimburse the tuition fees for university students due to Covid-19?
Over 328.000 students have signed the petition demanding reimbursement of the fees due to previous strikes but mainly Covid-19. Even though, universities are trying to do everything they can to provide their students with suitable teaching during these unprecedented times, some students feel that “power-points online for learning materials is not worthy of up to £9, 250”. But are they really not getting as much education and support as they should be getting?
The corona virus has insignificantly changed everything. Nothing might be the same anymore. The things we used to take for granted. Every time we check the news now, most of the stuff is about Covid-19. Everyone’s affected, whether we like it or not. One of the many groups affected are university students. The way many of the university students are being taught right now might not be perfect. Universities and lecturers are trying their best to adapt to the situation so the students are not missing much but sometimes it’s just not enough. There is no one to blame for this pandemic, not universities, not students, nor the government. The tuition fees should not be cancelled completely as it is not fair on universities as they are doing what they can. But again, it is not fair on students paying the tuition fees in full price when they’re not getting 100% of what they are paying for. So quite frankly, it is understandable why students who signed the petition might want the money back. Over 328.000 of students have signed the petition to reimburse the tuition fees. But is the reimbursement necessary? Staying at home during the pandemic, having online classes, doing your assignments from home, does not mean the universities stopped working. They’re still here for their students, whatever they might need. The universities staff might be working from home, but that does not mean, they are doing any less.
However, teaching is not everything that the tuition fees are being spent on. Have you ever wondered what are the tuition fees spent on? Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has revealed exactly where your tuition fees get spent – and it’s far from just the cost of teaching you. Around 45% of the funds generated from each student’s £9,250 annual tuition fees in England is currently spent on the cost of teaching. The remaining funds are spent on other necessary expenses, like buildings, technology and libraries, university administration, welfare support such as mental health services, and spending on the students’ union.
Student might feel misunderstood or treated unfairly, but they might not realise that everyone’s trying to do their best to avoid repeating the year as it states in the government response to the petition:
“We believe that students should be at the heart of the higher education system. It would not be in most student’s interests to cancel teaching and make them repeat the year: for the vast majority of students, moving teaching and assessment online and allowing them to complete the year is the most appropriate option. The Office for Students (OfS), the regulator in England, has committed to protecting students throughout the present crisis by working with providers to develop practical ways to maintain teaching quality and standards, enable adequate provision of exams and assessment, and support financial sustainability. Providers are already making these arrangements and the Government is in close contact with the sector on delivery. Further information about the actions the OfS will take to support providers to maintain standards and teaching quality will be issued shortly.”
I’ve spoken to several students studying different courses at different universities, trying to see, whether they really not getting enough support and would deserve the reimbursement of the tuition fees. They all agreed that they being provided with enough support from their universities. Robert Soska, a second-year student of International Business at Middlesex University said: “When it comes to University as a whole, I think their support is truly amazing. They plan daily activities to support our mental health and also try to provide some academic services online.” However, he also said, that “it largely depends on a tutor responsible for each module. Some tutors provide us with regular updates regarding exams and assessments, while some don’t do a great job in terms of communication with us, students.”
Most of the asked students agreed that the learning outcome will be definitely different to what it would’ve been if it weren’t for Covid-19.Patryk Marcyniuk, a first-year student of Music Production at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance says that while the learning outcome for some modules will be the same, because he only needs his laptop and headphones, some modules required a lot of practice hours in the studio environment which he lost due to Covid-19, so he won’t be getting the same learning outcome. However, Tadeusz Oginski, a first-year student of Politics and International Relations at University of Westminster thinks that his learning outcome might be even better as he doesn’t need to go to the university and has more time at home to write the essays and other assignments.
It can be said, that online classes are not as effective as in person classes. Mishel Holdbrook, a first-year of Sound Design at University of Greenwich thinks that, “face to face learning is quite effective, more so than online learning”. Isabella Ehrlicher, a second-year journalism student at London South Bank University has pretty much the same opinion. She says: “Online learning is a lot different and many of my friends and I struggle with sitting in front of the laptop and focusing for hours. It’s not the same although lecturers try make it as normal as possible.”
Robert Soska, a second-year student of International Business at Middlesex University is quite disappointed by how the learning turned out in the end, but he thinks it’s a “two-way” problem. ”I am somewhat disappointed how this home learning turned out in the end. For some modules, we haven’t even had any online lectures or seminars since the pandemic started. Tutors that tried to provide us with online classes didn’t succeed. I would say it was a two-way problem. Mainly, the attendance was terrible (for what I saw, the maximum of 5-8 people) and the classes were largely off-topic. It isn’t worth my time to have a conversation about my quarantine activities and also, it is pointless for the lecturer to explain something to 5 people.”
When it comes to the reimbursement of the tuition fees, students have slightly different opinions. Robert Soska and Mishel Holdbrook agreed that even though they wouldn’t mind getting some money back, they’re aware that the universities didn’t create the virus and therefore it’s not their fault. Timea Svecova, a second-year Business and Management student at Newcastle University doesn’t think that students should be reimbursed the money as “universities still need resources to minimise the impact of Covid-19 and still offers student services online”. Tadeusz Oginski has pretty much the same opinion as Timea and he thinks that the tuition fees shouldn’t be reimbursed as the universities and staff still work online. However, Patryk Marcyniuk, who lost a lot of hours of practice in a studio environment thinks, the tuition fees should be reimbursed as “it includes free studio and other equipment training during summer break but now the school is closed”. Isabella Ehrlicher thinks that the students should get a small amount back, but not everything as “lecturers are still working and so is security and other staff”. Enzo Randolfi, a third-year student of Scupture Making at Slade School of fine art, UCL thinks that he should get the money back. He said: “I study sculpture making so when I don’t have facilities or a studio to work in it really sucks to be honest wish it was possible to at least go in and get anything I left inside of the studio. I feel like I should get quite a reimbursement back, if the government can just pump money into furlough don’t see why they can’t just do that with university tuition.” He also added: “Luckily I am not graduating this year my peers who are having a really hard time especially with all the strikes that occurred last year shrinking overall tutor meetings, art students rely on end of year exhibitions for exposure and experience + portfolio works and it’s all kind of been scuppered. I would try to get some leverage on perhaps the idea of the opportunity to completely re-do this academic year skip accepting any new students for next year and just re-enrol graduating students in order for them to have sufficient time to exploit the course to its fullest.”
Regarding the question reimburse or not reimburse the tuition fees, it can be said that it is a very tricky question. As it has been mentioned above, the universities didn’t create the virus. After speaking to several students, I’ve learnt that their universities are doing everything so the students can somehow complete this academic year and with the pretty much the same learning outcome. Even though it might not be perfect and the online classes are not as effective, the lecturers have slightly changed the assignments so they can be completed in quarantine. They also provided their students with all the equipment and software they could to finish the assignments. It can also be said that the most affected are the students who need to use the university equipment, studios, etc., which they cannot use right now and therefore they losing hours of practice.
To conclude, the question is really hard to answer as it is really individual. However, if some students should be reimbursed some money, it shouldn’t be the full amount as universities are doing everything they can and need the money as they have plenty of expenses including paying the staff who work online, security staff and other staff, technology, welfare and mental health support and many others.
