The Open University (OU) has suffered declining student numbers since tuition fees increased from £1,400 ($9,000) in 2008 to £1,790 in 2012. The distance-learning university has cut course numbers, lecturers and student support, such as home experiment kits, summer schools and face-to-face support, in a bid to reduce its budget, citing changing priorities. Student support is crucial to OU students, but also costly to provide, said lecturer Martin Weller. The rise of edtech has been partly blamed for the OU's troubles. The OU recently said it would reinvest £70m saved from its budget back into the university.
The Open University (OU) has suffered declining student numbers since tuition fees increased from £1,400 ($1,790) in 2008 to £9,000 in 2012. The distance-learning university has cut course numbers, lecturers and student support, such as home experiment kits, summer schools and face-to-face support, in a bid to reduce its budget, citing changing priorities. Student support is crucial to OU students, but also costly to provide, said lecturer Martin Weller. The rise of edtech has been partly blamed for the OU's troubles. The OU recently said it would reinvest £70m saved from its budget back into the university.