OU gets greedy
I've just heard that the Open University will, from next year, be charging £5000 per year pro rata. Currently I'm paying the equivalent of about £1400 per year. How can they *possibly* justify such a hike? The argument seems to run: we'll still be cheaper than most other universities. Yes, but students don't have access to the university social life, classrooms, lectures, labs or even personal contact with tutors. How can it possibly be worth £2500 for a 60-point course that involved them sending me a set of a dozen books (less than £20 each on Amazon), some DVDs with old TV programs showing experiments, paying someone to mark six assignments and setting up an exam? Yes, I realise there are developmental and administrative costs, but whereas £700 seems fairly reasonable to cover that, hiking it up to £2500 in one swoop is taking the piss.
I'm currently one-third of the way through a chemistry degree. Apparently I qualify for a special arrangement whereby I can continue to pay the 'old' fees so that my degree won't cost me more than I planned for. But, quite honestly, I am so appalled by the sheer greed on display that I am seriously considering withdrawing. It's still going to cost me another £3000ish to complete the course, not to mention the loss of earnings when I have to take time off work for revision and summer schools. And then there's the stress and hard work...
I don't need another degree. I have plenty already. I'm doing this for personal development, out of interest and a desire to expand my mind. It's something I can do on the side, while I'm working, as a hobby. So far I've paid the OU for a degree in maths, a master's in maths, some computing courses, some German courses and part of a degree in chemistry. But if I finish this course I know I will never do another. I simply can't afford it. In its greed the OU has focussed on all the undergrads who are searching for the cheapest first degree and have chosen to ignore the continuing learners.
I have always been a champion of the OU, but now I feel betrayed and disgusted. I am due at a summer school in Nottingham all of next week, but I am seriously considering not turning up and getting paid to work instead. I have to make a decision quickly because I have a piece of work to finish that I must take with me!
The proudest day of my life was the day I graduated in maths from the OU. Now it just makes me feel rather sick.
I'm currently one-third of the way through a chemistry degree. Apparently I qualify for a special arrangement whereby I can continue to pay the 'old' fees so that my degree won't cost me more than I planned for. But, quite honestly, I am so appalled by the sheer greed on display that I am seriously considering withdrawing. It's still going to cost me another £3000ish to complete the course, not to mention the loss of earnings when I have to take time off work for revision and summer schools. And then there's the stress and hard work...
I don't need another degree. I have plenty already. I'm doing this for personal development, out of interest and a desire to expand my mind. It's something I can do on the side, while I'm working, as a hobby. So far I've paid the OU for a degree in maths, a master's in maths, some computing courses, some German courses and part of a degree in chemistry. But if I finish this course I know I will never do another. I simply can't afford it. In its greed the OU has focussed on all the undergrads who are searching for the cheapest first degree and have chosen to ignore the continuing learners.
I have always been a champion of the OU, but now I feel betrayed and disgusted. I am due at a summer school in Nottingham all of next week, but I am seriously considering not turning up and getting paid to work instead. I have to make a decision quickly because I have a piece of work to finish that I must take with me!
The proudest day of my life was the day I graduated in maths from the OU. Now it just makes me feel rather sick.