Then how am I supposed to get drunk?

As a student about to begin my Masters study, I have a keen interest in the debate surrounding the planned rise in tuition fees in one year's time. Most coverage on the subject seems to centre on students who are outraged at the planned rise, who going on marches, sign petitions and otherwise demonstrate against it. I have one simple question to ask the demonstrators and ardent opponents of the rise, if not from you, then where do you think the tuition fees should come from?

The main reaction to the rise in fees seems to be to get in to university this year before the planned rise takes effect. Statistics show the number of applicants to universities has soared while people rush to beat the fees. A BBC news article quotes the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University commenting on how an increasing number of parent's are journeying to the universities open days, and paying far more attention to the services on offer to find out just what they will actually be paying for. Further along in the same article, a Doctor from a Dutch university comments about how they have been seeing a rise in applications from UK students. He further comments about how the Netherlands still perceives university education as a right not a privilege, and will thus take as many students as they can afford. An article in The Times comments upon a rise in the number of applications for scholarship's for UK students to study in America. Apparently places are being snapped up, with students being sent far afield in order to take the admissions test required for entry in to US universities.

This apparent fury amongst students towards the government for raising fees and mad dash in an attempt to avoid them strikes me as an utterly selfish reaction. When I was in the halls of residence in my 1st year I was greeted, on almost a nightly basis, to the sight of large group's of student's going out for a night of clubbing and drinking, then staggering back to their rooms. The halls were often a mess, with food wrappers, pizza boxes, beer bottles and other drunken detritus littering the floors. Because I am deaf I wouldn't know myself, but the hall supervisor regularly e-mailed all of us telling us we needed to quieten down, especially late at night. Higher education is supposed to be about studying towards our degrees and improving ourselves. It is not meant to be a drunken year-long party which is occasionally interrupted with actual lectures and studying. Things calmed down a bit when I moved into a student house for my 2nd and 3rd years, but still on at least a weekly basis, my house-mates went out clubbing to get drunk. Funnily enough it was these self same 'students' who spent all their money drinking and partying, who then routinely complained that “they had no money”. I'm not saying University life should be a dreary prospect of nothing but study and academic work, but spending almost ALL of your money on booze and clubbing, then complaining when you have nothing left just strikes me as rather hypocritical.

Back to my original question, if not the student's then who will pay for it? The expectation seems to be that the government should pay for it. First off, I would like to address the aforementioned Dutch Dr's comments, in that the Netherlands still sees higher education as a "right" and not a "privilege". The estimated population of the Netherlands is 16.5m, whilst the UK’s is an estimated 62m - That's nearly 4x the population of the Netherlands. The Netherlands does not spend a vast amount of money on defence, nor do they have to deal with a massive welfare system. I'm not suggesting that the Netherlands welfare system is perfect, however with our greater population; the sums of money involved are much greater. I am reliably informed it's not all rosy in the Netherlands either, tuition fees for second MA's have recently risen to be 4x times higher. Given the economic crisis gripping the Western world, it is unrealistic of students to expect the government to keep largely funding universities. The only way for the government to continue funding universities is to increase taxes, something which is very likely to incite even greater fury from the general public.

It seems the holiday years of university "like being on the dole, only your parents are proud of you" are coming to an end. Students will have to start tightening their belts to afford university. Parents may begin demanding their children buckle down and work instead of going out drinking all the time to ensure they're getting their money's worth. If the rise in tuition fees helps to reduce students party attitude, and leads to a rise in the quality of education being obtained at university, then surely that can only benefit all of us?