News reporter Catherine Hardy reveals that 120 students surveyed by the Union of UEA Students paid over £26,000 in hidden course costs.
The rise in tuition fees for the next academic year is on everyone’s mind. However, hidden course costs are secretly costing students over £26,000 a year, based on the 120 responses received by the Union of UEA Students (UUEAS) thus far.
Over the past week the UUEAS has been asking students how much they pay for their course on top of their tuition fees, and so far the total stands at £26,657.
Feedback shows that books and printing have been the primary costs across most courses. Courses which include placement years have the highest price tag when it comes to additional costs, with students paying extra for travel, accommodation and foreign health insurance.
Meg Evans, Union Academic officer, said: “Hidden course costs are becoming an increasingly important issue. The cost of living is going up and students increasingly have to seek part-time work to support their studies.
“The Union believes that the University should be working to reduce the burden of additional course costs that is placed on students and at the very least, be transparent in how much a course really costs to study“.
As well as the UUEAS survey, the heads of each school are currently compiling lists of the breakdown of course costs, which the Union described as a “really positive step” in their campaign. Once each school has finished their list the Union will put these together with the results from their social media sites and the Annual Student Survey, to highlight the most common areas of expenditure.
Meg added: “The response to this issue has been great and we will continue to ask students how much they pay so that we can make a good case for change.”
To tell the UUEAS your course costs, email union.academic@uea.ac.uk, tweet @unionUEA or visit the Union’s Facebook page (Union of UEA Students).