UCML (the University Council of Modern Languages) is lobbying the government about the issue of fees for study and work abroad, with new fee rates being charged to undergraduates from 2012. UCML represents HE language departments, and is asking ministers for a fee subsidy for this extra year. It is worried that students will be expected to apply for courses without knowing whether they will be charged the full price for four years.
The government has ordered a review of support for modern languages, which is expected to report back in the autumn. A government spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills told the BBC: "The government recognises the important contribution of modern languages to our university system. We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England to review what support modern languages, and other strategic and vulnerable subjects, should receive from 2012."
But UCML fears that the doubt surrounding fee support – and the prospect of paying an extra £9,000 for another year – will put students off choosing languages. UCML’s chairman, Prof James Coleman, says that many students on four-year courses currently have subsidised fees for the year abroad – with these subsidies paid through the funding council to universities. But, he says, "The government urgently needs to make a statement that they will support a year abroad and to moderate the impact of higher fees." He emphasised that potential students are already looking at courses, and that students must be reassured that "they will not be financially penalised for taking a four-year language degree."
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