A Sound Investment

University College Falmouth charges £9,000 a year to all home and EU undergraduates starting their first degree with us. But what do the fees mean and what do you get in return?

The facts

• Significant funding cuts and changes in government policy mean that from September 2012, University College Falmouth will be charging all home/EU undergraduates £9,000 a year in tuition fees. Online and Foundation courses have a lower fee structure
• As an undergraduate studying with us, you’ll pay nothing upfront for your tuition fees
• A special student loans company will pay your fees and you’ll only need to repay them once you graduate and start earning more than £21,000
• The best way to think of the repayment scheme is as a graduate tax. The amount you repay is linked to your salary, so the more you earn, the more you’ll pay back each month. A graduate earning £25,000 a year will pay back £30 a month
• As a fee-paying student graduating from 2015 onwards, you’ll be £540 a year better off than one of your predecessors who earns the same salary. (When they graduated, they had to start paying back their fees as soon as they earned more than £15,000)
• Everyone studying at the University College will be eligible for a ‘cost of living’ loan, if money looks like it might be a problem. How much you can borrow will depend on your household income – for more information check out our undergraduate funding information
• Falmouth is one of the few institutions not offering a fee waiver, which means we have more money to invest upfront on top quality student support, facilities and staff

Our investment

To make sure you get the most out of the money you spend with us, we’re investing too. The income we receive from your tuition fees is being pumped straight back in to provide you with the best possible experience while studying with us and starting your career. Over the next five years we’re:

• Growing AIR, our brand new £9 million multidisciplinary research and development lab, to open up exciting opportunities for collaboration with local, national and international businesses.
• Investing £2.5 million to safeguard and promote fair access to our courses for students from poorer backgrounds
• Employing world-class staff to head up and deliver our programmes of study. Staff costs make up over half of UCF’s annual expenditure, demonstrating our commitment to giving our students the very best learning experience

Support from Europe

Falmouth has benefitted from over a decade of EU funding. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has been a major contributor to our infrastructure, resulting in leading-edge facilities and Falmouth's outward looking profile.

The ERDF has supported the Media Centre, the Du Maurier, Peter Lanyon and AIR buildings, and the Performance Centre at Tremough. The current development of The Exchange is being supported by Europe. The development of interactive arts at the Woodlane Campus was also due to EU investment.

European funding through the European Social Fund has allowed us to develop a highly successful work placement programme - over 1,000 placements since 2002. The same fund has now enabled us to offer research studentships and MA bursaries. Whilst at the tip of the country, our positioning is second to none thanks to the confidence of our investors and our dynamic, ambitious growth.