校园生活:论大学教育的含金量_BEC初级作文

校园生活:论大学教育的含金量

The flood gates had been opened. As time passed, the ceiling on tuition fees rose, and although applicants from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales still qualified for varying levels of subsidy, by 2009/10 students in England often found themselves facing tuition fees in excess of ￡3,000 a year.

这类政策一旦推行就会愈演愈烈。随着时间的推移，学费的上限也水涨船高，尽管来自苏格兰、北爱尔兰和威尔士的一些学生仍然够资格申请不同程度的补贴，但到了2009/10年度，英格兰的学生通常都要面临每年超过3,000英镑的学费支出。

But the biggest change was still to come. In 2011 the Government announced that, from 2017, universities could charge fees of up to ￡9,000 a year. Although the Government sweetened the pill by stating that postgraduates did not have to begin repaying their student loans until they were earning more than ￡21,000 a year, the news created outrage. Many students argued that it was unfair that students should have to begin their work life saddled with huge debt, while others complained that the changes would bring back a class divide to university education. These views were reflected in the number of students applying for a university place, which by January 2017 fell by more than 22,000. The Universities Minister, David Willetts, stood by the decision to increase tuition fees, saying that they would not “put universities’ finance on a sustainable footing” and facilitate “a stronger focus on high quality teaching.”