NUS Wales submitted evidence on this matter to the Jones Review of Higher Education, and it was subsequently highlighted by the Minister as an area of concern.
As a result, the Minister instructed the Funding Council to tackle this issue, leading to the formation of a steering group which consisted of representatives from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, NUS Wales, Higher Education Wales (who represent institutions in Wales) and more specifically their Pro-Vice Chancellor group.
The steering group met on a number of occasions to discuss the impact of hidden costs of study and how to address this problem.
This group investigated the information that is currently available to students regarding costs of study, on both a course and institutional level, and importantly when this information is made available to students.
NUS Wales has consistently pushed for all costs of study to be published in time for prospective students to assess the full cost of higher education.
When investigating the current information provision, it became clear that information is often made available to students extremely late in the application / enrolment process and was certainly not available in time for prospective students.
Although the various sector bodies did not agree on every detail, there was a general consensus that this information could and should be published in a more transparent and timely way.
As a result, advice on this matter was sent to the new Minister. After Ministerial approval, guidance for institutions has been written circulated to the sector.
The guidance calls for costs of study to be made available on university and college websites, at both institutional and course specific levels, so that it is accessible for prospective students.
The guidance also sets out a timeline that states when various types of information should be made available, with all information online by June 2011.
NUS Wales is extremely pleased that this issue was recognised by the Minister and acted upon by sector bodies. It is worth noting that this area of work is a first in terms of UK higher education.
NUS UK and NUS Scotland are looking to push this issue with relevant stakeholders, with the aim of ensuring that costs of study become more transparent across the whole of the UK.
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