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Homeless students at Glasgow University have been told to ‘drop out or delay’ their course by its management.
The claims come amidst news that 70 students came forward to seek help for homelessness last week, reported by STV News
Euan Bell, president of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association (gusna) said;
“The situation at Glasgow University is, frankly, a disaster. The university is sending messages to students telling them if they can’t pay accommodation they should drop out or delay.
And this is not just first years, a fourth year who was homeless was also told to drop out or delay,”
“The university has a duty of care to its students. They have the means, they are not helpless and they could be doing something.
Glasgow University is a charity with millions in the bank and it could be doing much more to help and protect students.”
The suggestion to drop out or delay appears even more troubling when students last week lodged a complaint alleging some were paying as much as £1200 per month for a place to live and others were living under a threatening landlord, unable to afford to move out, according to STV News.
The problem of accommodation is not a new one, with students last year forced to stay in Paisley and commute due to a shortage, but has been exacerbated by the number of students the university is accepting.
Photo credit: Johnny Briggs
Despite the fact Glasgow University guarantees first years accommodation the world renowned school has cited ‘demand for accommodation citywide’ and an ‘unprecedented number of applications for University accommodation this year’ as the reasons some were left without a place to stay.
At the time of writing the guarantee to provide first years with accommodation is still on the Glasgow University Website.
International and non-EU students constitute about 68% of fees paid to Glasgow University and some are levelling the claim that the university puts profits over people when considering how many students to admit.
Source: Media_830192_smxx.pdf (gla.ac.uk)
Authorities at Glasgow University claim:
“The scale of the increase was not known at the time our accommodation policy was written, and the guarantee was offered.”
However, Euan was keen to emphasise that the university should have seen this coming:
“The reason they are doing this is greed, it’s pure greed to get more and more fees from students,”
Figures published by Glasgow University show that the institution made £292,809 from tuition and education contracts in 2021, up from £248,926 in 2020.
There seem to be no plans for new accommodation in the five year plan.
Glasgow University did not reply to requests for comment. However, a number of additions the university website have been updated during the current academic year.
