Tuition fee hike would be 'final nail' in higher education coffin

Tuition fee hike would be 'final nail' in higher education coffin


11:05am Tuesday 12th October 2010


PROPOSALS to allow universities to set their own tuition fees will be the "final nail in the coffin" for affordable higher education, ministers were warned today.


Students would be forced to pay thousands of pounds more for their degrees, with the prospect that institutions could charge as much as £12,000 a year for some courses - compared to the current £3,290 - under proposals outlined in a long-awaited review of funding.


Graduates would also pay back loans at a much higher rate of interest, equal to the Governments cost of borrowing, which could leave them facing many years of debt.


The proposals represent the most radical shake-up of the student funding system for years.


But the National Union of Students (NUS) warned that if adopted, the proposals would hand universities a blank cheque and lead to a market in higher education.


NUS president Aaron Porter said: "The only thing students and their families would stand to gain from higher fees would be higher debts.


"A market in course prices between universities would increasingly put pressure on students to make decisions based on cost rather than academic ability or ambition.


"Those already feeling the pinch will clearly be unwilling to take such a gamble and face being priced out of the universities that would opt to charge sky-high fees."


Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, warned: "Lord Browne's recommendations, if enacted, represent the final nail in the coffin for affordable higher education.


"His proposals will make our public degrees the most expensive in the world and price the next generation out of education."


The review calls for universities to be left to set their own fees, with the Government fully underwriting fees up to £6,000 a year.


Universities charging over that will be hit with a tapered levy to cover the cost to Government of providing the students with finance, and will keep progressively less of the extra funding.


For example, an institution charging £7,000 for a course will keep 94 per cent of the fee.


The review sets out figures up to £12,000 per year - universities charging this will still keep nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of the fee.


But it does not specify any cap, saying there should be no single fixed price for higher education because all universities are different and provide different courses.


The recommendation is likely to be seen as a highly controversial option for the Government and politically explosive for the Liberal Democrats, who campaigned against tuition fees during the general election.


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