Although the college experience is different in England, one thing is the same across the pond. The British government is struggling to fund higher education the way it used to, said Suzanne Marchand, European history professor.
Marchand said until recently, universities in England did not have high fees like those in the United States, but these increased after a new maximum of 9,000 pounds, or about $15,000, for schools to charge per year was instituted.
Students in England may now have to pay almost twice as much as their counterparts in Louisiana who, according to the LSU Office of Budget and Planning, paid about $8,000 in tuition and fees this year.
John Cater, vice chancellor of Edge Hill University in Lancashire, England, told the Times Higher Education last Wednesday he does not have a positive outlook for university finances because even with the higher fees implemented, the schools are unable to save as much for the future uncertainties.
Dan Layzell, University vice president for finance and administration, said in February that state governments do not have all of the resources to do as much as they once did.
Marchand said the increased fees in England were very hard on the average family, and that it may deter people from going to college. She said 9,000 pounds was a lot for a family to pay.
The college experience looks very different too, Marchand said, because there is less emphasis placed on quizzes and homework assignments and more placed on final exams. There is also less required reading, and a bachelor’s degree typically takes three years to earn compared to four.
Peter Sutherland, associate professor of anthropology who attended the University of Oxford in England, said his course work was more based on research when he went to school, although he believes universities are becoming more American in their teaching styles.
He also said students only take classes pertaining to their major, unlike in the U.S. where most students are required to take general education courses, often having little to do with what they are going to school to earn a degree in.