The Principal: “£9,000 a year is very little to pay for a St Andrews education”

In an interview with the Herald published earlier this week, Principal Louise Richardson said to a reporter, “I think I’m going to say something that is very unpopular- £9,000 a year is very little to pay for a St Andrews education because it’s worth a great deal more.”

Richardson made her controversial comment while discussing the idea that the university might treat students who payed fees (international and English students) differently from the Scottish and EU students who do not. She rejected the idea that paying students should be treated as customers, and added “right now in our classrooms we have kids paying nothing, kids paying £9,000 and international students paying significantly more and should we be treating those differently? I don’t think so. We provide the best education we can provide.”

When contacted regarding Richardson’s statement, the President of NUS Scotland, Robin Parker said, “It’s a bit rich, coming from the head of a university with such an abysmal record of recruiting students from the poorest backgrounds, that £9,000 degrees are in fact a bargain.” We’re sure his pun was unintentional.

English students have not taken kindly to Richardson’s comments, believing them to be insensitive. 4th year Dan Franklin said “£2,000 a year was too much to be forced to pay for what she and the others who inflicted these fees on us got for free, so £9,000 certainly is.” 1st years are just as indignant, encapsulated by Alexander Ramsey-Smith’s appeal, “I’m so distraught, I’m living on beans already. What more does the university want from me?”

Unswayed by the negative press garnered by the interview, the university has confirmed that Principal Richardson was actually factually correct in her statement, as it does cost£11,000 on average per year to educate one St Andrews student. The Director of Corporate Communications, Niall Scott, said that Dr. Richardson’s comment was taken out of context by the media. “[The] remarks were entirely concerned with what it actually costs to provide an education, and the potentially corrosive effects of marketisation if it caused universities to treat some students differently because they pay fees. She’s actually arguing to keep the financial pressures and realities of fees away from the classroom to ensure that all students are treated equally.”

Since his statement was originally made, Robin Parker has said that it is “refreshing” that our Richardson had in fact mentioned the importance of avoiding the corrosive effects of marketisation.

Image courtesy of st-andrews.ac.uk