Fun at the debtors’ prison: undergraduates’ university experience

Curtis, Susan (2004) Fun at the debtors’ prison: undergraduates’ university experience. Education and training, 46 (2). pp. 75-81. ISSN 0040-0912

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Abstract

Discusses the results of a survey on aspects of the student experience of university at a semi-rural faculty of a metropolitan university in England. The research found that students tend to be amassing considerable debts, have little financial parental support and some are dependent on wages from part-time work as a source of funds. It would appear that there is some financial hardship among the students surveyed, with a significant minority paying their own tuition fees. It is a possibility that these students would not be able to afford the higher top-up tuition fees proposed for 2006. However, it is suggested that, for most students, there is a good social life, and university remains an enjoyable experience.