Course
Fees
The main impetus of the New School is to untether higher education from its moorings within a system of global debt financing that favours only the wealthy elite. We are an independent body that is not in receipt of government funding, and we strive to keep costs as low as possible. All of our teachers are paid the same and we execute our own administration speedily and efficiently.
For the September 2024 - June 2025 academic year, the full cost of student tuition will remain £1,800.00 for both home and international applicants who wish to study with us either in-person or online. Owing, however, to the generosity of Necessity.info and Franc Roddam, we are pleased to implement a pay-what-you-can-afford donation scheme (PWYCA), subject to a minimum threshold of £200.00. This ensures that no one with the aptitude and desire to participate in the life of the New School need be excluded. (Please note that PWYCA applies in the first instance to 'home' applicants who have been resident in the UK for at least a year prior to joining us. The first tier applies only to those without prior university-level experience.)
We have created the following rough guide to explain the PWYCA scheme and help you decide what to donate relative to your personal circumstances:
All such offers and declarations of circumstances will remain wholly confidential. If an applicant wishes to donate more than the full tuition cost, the sum will help us to prolong the PWYCA scheme for as long as possible. Please contact us should you wish to discuss either this or the question of the minimum threshold payment, should this prove prohibitive. We hold that no one should forgo a critical-creative education owing to economic circumstances alone.
If you are a refugee fleeing from conflict, a care-experienced person over the age of 18, or someone serving a custodial sentence as a consequence of the criminalisation of protest against the climate emergency, we would be pleased to welcome you to NSotA for no tuition fee whatsoever.
£200 - £600
• I am frequently concerned about meeting needs, such as food, housing and clothing, and often fall short.
• I have debt and it sometimes prohibits me from meeting my basic needs.
• I rent lower-end properties or have unstable housing.
• I sometimes cannot afford public or private transport.
• I am unemployed or underemployed.
• I have caring responsibilities that significantly restrict my income.
• I qualify for government and/or voluntary assistance, such as food banks and benefits.
• I have no access to savings and/or very limited expendable income that might, for example allow me to buy coffee at a shop, attend the cinema or concert, and buy clothes and books.
• I rarely buy new items because I am unable to afford them.
• I cannot afford a holiday or do not have the ability to take time off without financial burden.
• I own a mobile phone but cannot afford a monthly call-plan.
£600 - £1,200
• I might be concerned about meeting my basic needs but still regularly achieve them.
• I might have some debt, but it does not prohibit attainment of basic needs.
• I can afford public transport; if I have access to a car, I can afford petrol.
• I am employed on a part-time basis.
• I have access to health care.
• I might have access to financial savings and have some expendable income.
• I am able to buy some new items.
• I can take a holiday annually or every few years without financial burden.
• I can afford a monthly mobile phone call-plan.
£1,200 - £1,800
• I am comfortably able to meet all my basic needs.
• I might have some debt, but it does not prohibit attainment of basic needs.
• I own my home or property, or I rent a higher-end property.
• I can afford public and private transport. If I have access to a car I can afford petrol.
- I am employed on a full-time basis or am retired with a private or company pension.
• I have regular access to healthcare.
• I have access to financial savings and have an expendable income.
• I can always buy new items.
• I can afford an annual holiday and can take time off work.
• I can afford a monthly mobile phone call-plan.
I came up with this word “scenius” – and scenius is the intelligence of a whole . . . operation or group of people. And I think that’s a more useful way to think about culture, actually. Let’s forget the idea of “genius” for a little while, let’s think about the whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work.
Brian Eno, Sydney Luminous Festival (2009)