Tuition fees for international students starting university in 2015 are set to increase by 5% according to the University’s official site.
Current fees for international students range from £13,470 for most arts, humanities and social science courses up to £17,340 for science courses.
For the year of 2015/2016, fees are set to start from £14,140 for humanities courses and up to £18,210 for science-based subjects, according to The University of Nottingham’s tuition fee page.
The fee increase of about 5% appears to be above the standard rate of inflation, since January 2013, the highest inflation rate recorded has been 3.3% (Retail Price Index).
The fee increase of about 5% appears to be above the standard rate of inflation
SU education officer, Adam BK, told Impact: “The Students’ Union opposes any fee increase for international students that goes above the standard rate of inflation or cost of an individual course. Unfortunately, myself (and I believe Alex) were not consulted as the decision was reached before we took office.
He went on to say: “The market driven nature of the international fee system means that this is an area of constant review for the University and something that the International Officer and I will be working together on; to lobby the university against any further increase of fees”.
A second year international student studying International Media and Communications student said, “It seems ridiculous that they are raising fees above inflation, but I feel it could be justified as a fee increase may be translated into reasons such as higher pay for the professors, more professors or into facilities of the school that the school might not have informed us about. However, I have not been informed about the reasons behind the new fee increases”.
A University of Nottingham spokesperson said: “University fees are reviewed on an annual basis by University Executive Board and may be adjusted in the light of inflation, university costs and market conditions. For 2015-16 both home fees (where the fees are not statutorily controlled) and international fees were increased”.
Caroline Chan
Image: paraexcellencemagazine.com
