Mar 31 2011 1:30PM
UCS has fixed its tuition fees for UK and European Union full-time undergraduates for 2012 entry at £7,500 for Foundation degrees and £8,000 for Bachelor degrees in a package subject to the approval of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA).
Students studying at UCS receive joint degrees from the University of East Anglia and the University of Essex. The University of Essex, like a wide range of ‘1994 Group’ and ‘Russell Group’ universities, has already announced that it plans to charge £9,000 per year for all undergraduate degrees.
Professor Mike Saks, Provost of UCS, said: "We are a new, can do Higher Education Institution with very good facilities, and we plan to deliver the best higher education for Suffolk. Our fees represent excellent value for money and will enable us to cover our costs in an increasingly tightly run and cost-effective institution. They should also allow us to deliver innovative initiatives to widen participation, improve our support and facilities for students, and build employability into the degree courses on offer.”
A key priority of UCS is to provide students with high quality experiences in teaching and learning, with degrees that relate directly to the world of work. UCS degree programmes are developed in collaboration with local, national and global employers. The latest employability figures for UCS students were close to 90%, with some two-thirds going into graduate jobs. UCS has also recently appointed a number of world-renowned Professors and Visiting Professors, making students even more employable in the marketplace.
To highlight the quality of UCS facilities, this week also saw the opening of the James Hehir Building| at UCS in Ipswich. This £22m building is home to specialist teaching and research facilities including clinical skills laboratories, physiology and sports science laboratories, and an iLab, as well as general teaching and study space. The ground floor houses the new UCS Union| facility, Kai, which incorporates a student café bar.
The James Hehir Building sits alongside other recent campus developments, including the £40 million Waterfront Building|, a newly renovated Library and Arts Building|, as well as recently opened high standard student accommodation|. The establishment of these facilities and the development of those across the Learning Network in Bury|, Great Yarmouth|, Ipswich|, Lowestoft| and Otley| demonstrate UCS’s commitment to providing high quality teaching and learning for students.
As part of the Access package UCS will also invest over £2m in attracting students from a wide range of backgrounds, helping them to continue their studies to a successful conclusion. Specific initiatives include growing the current programme of outreach activity with local schools and colleges, fee waiver schemes for students from lower income backgrounds, mentoring schemes for current and future students, and working with other community organisations such as Leap| to encourage mature students and part-time learners to access higher education.
Professor Saks said: “The fee of £7,500 for Foundation degrees shows our commitment to working with employers, and providing students with an alternative option to the traditional three year Bachelors degree. We continue to be committed to widening participation in the county and beyond, and our roots mean we are well positioned to do so. Students should also remember that the fees are not paid up front but only start to be repaid when graduates earn a minimum of £21k per annum in employment.”