Distance Learning Is A More Flexible Choice: University Isn’t What It Used To Be

Posted on by
Reply

Once upon a time there was University, which stood alone with mystical qualifications named degrees that only top people could hope to acquire. A three or four year degree gave you a ticket to ride, and nothing else counted. Underneath this magisterial realm existed lesser institutions that aspired to be real universities but could never hope to be so special. Among this dowdy number were further education and technical colleges 
in the last twenty years or so however, universities untouchable place at the top of the hierarchy has been brought under scrutiny. Increased negative publicity has adhered to the courses that many offer. These, many believe, are taught by academics who are only concerned with their personal research projects, and are less-than-committed to their teaching responsibilities. 
Universities meanwhile, have begun to offer ‘trendy’ courses like media studies. There is a widespread perception that this was an error: when universities became trendy was when the Emperor lost his clothes in the eyes of the public. In tandem with this drift has been an important and muscular expansion within the rest of the ‘tertiary’ education sector, both in terms of provision and also ambition. Short courses and vocational courses have grown in reputation and stature, both among the public and among employers. Courses provided in the sector tend these days to be modular, enabling students to study part-time or through a distance learning programme, meaning they can fit study around other commitments and dip in and out of education as their lives permit. 
No longer is it obligatory to annexe three or four years of your life merely to obtain a qualification which often has no relevance to the wider world of work. Moreover, most courses can now be converted into degrees through extra study, with the crucial difference being that the jobs market can also be accessed en route. Basically there has been a blurring of the lines between further and higher education, responding to society’s needs in terms of flexibility, re-skilling, ongoing training and an education sector that does not operate in isolation. 
The final factor in the story of course is the eye-popping rise in university tuition fees. The level and quality of education on offer from universities is demonstrably ‘variable’, going on ‘poor’. Conversely the further education sector, both site-based and online, is performing splendidly and in a targeted and industry-specific way. Why then concentrate only on the merits of university? 
You may leave saddled with a debt in excess of £50,000 and a degree which in the final analysis can be pretty much useless. Alternatively, you could take say a Business HND or another online learning course which dovetails with work commitments and is perfect for your career needs. 
Modern students are discovering there are different paths to get to where they want to go – and they’re following them.

In The 21st Century, Is A Degree Really Necessary? Online Courses Can Be Much More Effective!

Posted on by
Reply

There is little doubt that in the 21st century we are becoming more of a ‘knowledge-based economy’. Machines continue to replace the manual worker and it has never been more lucrative nor more necessary to make use of ones brain. 
You obviously need a degree more than ever then? Don’t you? 
There are some professions where you really do need the structured training of a university degree, such as Law or Medicine. But others are perfectly achievable with on-the-job training such as through an apprenticeship or internship. And with the jobs market looking sluggish in the medium-term, high-calibre people may be advised to steal a march by entering the jobs market now, and accumulating money and contacts, before perhaps returning to college when they have found a course that will genuinely help their career. 
The one element often cited by universities to encourage young people into their institutions instead of the workplace is that the ability to gain a degree is in itself seen as a sign of intelligence. This however ought to be highly arguable at the current time, when the acquisition of this frequently useless bauble comes with a huge and worrisome debt attached. 
In any case the modern worker has multiple avenues through which he or she can achieve: 
• if you have a strong inclination toward one particular area of work, then apply for an apprenticeship upon leaving school; 
• or you can join the workforce and study alongside, perhaps an online business course such as an HND; 
• or you can hang around at University for 3 years and leave with a massive debt and no real professional nous; 
• or you can try and get into (extremely competitive) Medical School, thereby guaranteeing future success. 
The sadness is that young people are being forced to make big weighty life choices whilst still very young and callow. And if they make the wrong choice, they could carry the consequences for decades. 
However, these days the opportunities for studying whilst earning are huge. In most cases young people can protect themselves from an enormous hole in their finances by choosing to study through distance learning courses, with total flexibility and a lack of time constraints – and still continue to work and get paid. They can get experience of the workplace while studying for the professional qualifications they need to get ahead, and without the prospect of unnecessary debt. 
A smooth and non-stressful path to career progression and fulfilment, and something an employer will support and reward.

Where Is Further Education Going? The UK University Fees Debate

Posted on by
Reply

If you were a British citizen at a UK university a quarter of a century ago, you would have paid no tuition fees for your first degree. But as higher education expanded, the ‘right’ to a free university education was inevitably called into question. As a result of spending restraints, the axe finally fell upon this once ‘sacred cow’, and the decision was made to, effectively, tax graduates. University fees would now be borne by the student not the taxpayer. The amount Universities could levy was limited, but in 2012 this ‘cap’ is set to be increased threefold. Though it was claimed that that only the most sought-after courses would attract a £9,000 fee, many more colleges than expected have decided to raise fees to the new ceiling. This is partly a consequence of having suffered a severe cut in their own central government grant. 
Cutting funding to universities whilst giving them licence to increase charges was only likely to have one outcome: more student debt, as administrators naturally wished to avoid making lay-offs among university staffs. Exponential fees inflation is likely to have consequences beyond the anticipated changing of the student demographic. There will be profound changes in the way people study, the things they choose to study, and in the very way they view study. 
Top colleges are unlikely to alter much. Attending such places is seen as conferring a high chance of future success. Students will not be deterred from applying. Beneath this rarefied strata however, widespread changes in the market are bound to occur. The most far-reaching change will be wrought not on the size of the sector but on the nature and form of the provision it offers. 
At the outset, prospective students will approach education with a new set of questions. They will need to be more fully assured of the value of what they’re purchasing. ‘Is this course going to give me the tools to enable me to pay for it?’ ‘Will it give me the rewards that make the sacrifice of study worthwhile?’ ‘Will the rewards be worth it, or will debt be too high a price to pay?’ There will be an uptick in applications for business and vocational courses, as students prioritise real-world skills. 
With rising living costs exerting a squeeze, and a depressed jobs market creating uncertainty, users are sure to examine the possibility of trying to combine work with study. Many will decide to enter a career first and defer study or perhaps study part-time. HND courses for instance, which are able to be upgraded into a degree with further study, may be seen as the smart option.
Many such courses can also be taken online and this type of study, which has the added advantage of being significantly cheaper, will increasingly appeal to a new ‘cherry-picking’ student . Rather than ‘front-loading’ all their education when they’re arguably less appreciative of its benefits, people will come to view education as a continuing process, with online courses likely to supersede in many areas. 
The student of the future will be cost-savvy, putting flexibility and usefulness over tradition. How universities respond to these changing attitudes will dictate whether they maintain their strength or are usurped by new, fast-moving competitors. Inevitably, distance learning courses will increase in popularity

The Changing Face Of UK Education – 21st Century Learning

Posted on by
Reply

Cast your mind back into recent history, say 30 years. Many young people studying for their ‘A’ levels in the UK were keen to go to university; what or where they studied was barely considered; have fun, get some mates, work like stink for a 2:1 in you final year and climb aboard the gravy train was the routine template they to which they adhered. 
Many changes have occurred, sometimes rapidly. And these changes have taken place in so many areas of higher education: 
Degrees are available at places other than universities: 
Polytechnics became universities, expanded their repertoires, and were joined in the degree market by ambitious technical colleges. The expansion peaked around 1980 with education widely and freely available – since then the economic realities have forced the Government to rein in its idealism regarding the ‘right’ to education. Maintenance grants were first reduced, then abolished. 
Student loans: First introduced to boost the grant and cut student overdrafts. Initially modest for most, the loan became a key component of student funding and the student experience. Loans were a consequence of changing political attitudes, and were designed to be affordable and thus continue to entice poorer students to apply to university following the abolition of the maintenance grant. 
Once in place however, the loan system was inevitably extended to cover part or all of the student’s fees also, which they now added to their swelling debt burden. 
In 2004, tuition fees rose from £1000 to £3000 pa. Since then the amount borne by the student has rocketed to its current maximum of £9000 pa. This state of affairs is justified by the recognition that graduates will earn more, on average over £100k across their lifetimes, than non-graduates. 
Present estimates suggest that the average student will have to find around £50k for fees and living costs to complete a three-year degree course. Despite the possible increased earning power, the attraction of university is bound to recede. 
Should we be surprised then that many potential students are eschewing expensive degree course for the cost-effective and flexible option of online courses? Distance learning is truly the way of the future, and the universities have accelerated the process!

What Choices Are Available For Those Leaving School In The 21st Century?

Posted on by
Reply

The recent changes to UK universities have been legion: 
• University tuition fees have trebled to £9,000 pa;
• Visa restrictions for overseas students have tightened considerably, so travelling to the UK to study is not quite as easy as it once was; 
• UK universities, under pressure from Government to admit more students, have lowered entry requirements, arguably making courses less rigorous also.
The global standing of a properly-accredited UK qualification reamins second-to-none; however the means of achieving this have changed considerably, and there is naturally a reappraisal of the system as students become picky consumers and universities can no longer call all the shots. University has become only one of the many options young people are now at liberty to appraise: 
Some of these options may be: 
• Knuckle down and learn a practical trade through the classic apprenticeship; 
• Enrol in a vocational training course; 
• Get working, get earning – doesn’t matter where; 
• Go straight to university;
• ‘Find yourself’, with the aid of a gap year in some far-flung location 
• Enter the workforce with the intention of studying further down the line, when you have more idea of what you need to advance your career. 
Your average graduate earns £100k more than those who took no university education – but a person with the capability to go to university is also likely to be shrewd enough to realise the changing situation is upsetting conventional certitudes and be able to succeed even if they need to embark on unexpected or modified paths. 
One thing has become clear during the last 15 years: there are multiple different paths of study that lead to a fully-accredited qualification – university is not the only option. One key difficulty many encounter with university is the need to physically be there: move home, friends and family, take your life and relocate it in a new area. A person with no ties can thrive on this but it may be less than perfect for someone with a family. 
If you’re at a point when you know what you need in terms of study, and you don’t want the hassle of moving nor the expense of university, the distance learning opportunities now available via the internet probably offer your surest, most convenient route.
Look at the online courses available these days; they are more flexible, affordable, and still provide an accredited qualification to help progress your career. And studying using distance learning methods show that you have the initiative to succeed in today’s market. Without a future of unsustainable debt.

With Tuition Fees Rising, Potential Students Wonder If It’s Worth It

Posted on by
Reply

The UK Government is naturally at pains to deny that the massive hike in university tuition fees will hit demand for courses. Yet with students final debt burden likely to be around the £60,000 mark, it is obvious searching questions will be asked regarding the real value of such an education.
With little sign of growth, graduate jobs will continue to be thin on the ground. Not only will salaries be depressed, particularly at entry level, but post-graduate unemployment is likely to remain high. Many graduates will be burdened with enormous debts with no sign that they will be able to pay them off in the medium-term, or perhaps ever.
With the outlook for graduates so bleak, the usefulness of a university education will inevitably be questioned. Students and their parents will wonder if a degree is any longer a strict necessity, whether it might be better to defer or pass up the option. Vocational courses will grow in attractiveness, with a consequent squeeze on less practical fields such as arts and humanities. And many debt-squeezed students are likely to remain under their parents roof.
With job insecurity a given, the classic ‘school-university-job for life’ model will be called into question and young people will begin to think and act less predictably, maybe by building career experience and contacts (as well as saving money) prior to further study.
Acquiring some real-life skills and business knowledge when combined with part-time study of a qualification such as an HND may come to be seen to be not only as the pragmatic option but also the one most likely to succeed.
In addition, with the development of courses online, study through distance learning is increasingly liberating. Students have no need to slog across town to get to school, and can study at a time that suits them.
Furthermore, students need not merely go to university then cease study more or less completely. E-learning, by consigning the classroom to history, may also be calling ‘time’ on the rigid and inconvenient period of ‘timeout’ devoted simply to study.
With debt and uncertainty waiting, the young are going to take a more fluid and open-ended approach to the business of study. The changes will equip them with a more practical outlook – and far less debt.