Government fees review
Wednesday 11 Nov 2009
Pound Coins
On Monday the government announced a review of tuition fees, which will consider future funding models for Higher Education. A review in 2009 was a condition of top-up fees of £3,000 being introduced in 2006 (which many of you will be paying), however leaving it so late in the year means it will not report back until after the general election. This means that both major parties will try to stop the funding of your education becoming an election issue. Although the cost of fees is unlikely to change if you are a current student, the consequences of the review will have an impact on how much investment there is in your course in later years.
Vice Chancellors from a number of universities, including our own Rector, have called for the current tuition-fee cap to be raised considerably, or be removed completely. This would not only contribute to the debts of home and EU students in the future, but raise another issue: commercial rate loans. Current loans are subsidised by the government, but there is no additional money to fund the higher lending associated with higher fees. Hence higher fees would lead to students graduating with both higher debts and higher rates of interest, dramatically increasing the cost of Higher Education.
I was asked to sign a letter from all students' unions in the country, which was published in the Guardian this morning. The letter calls for MPs to sign up to a pledge that they will vote against an increase in fees and for a fairer funding system. Although we disagree with the National Union of Students on a number of funding issues, their letter agrees with our current policy, so I was happy to sign it.
If you have comments on the fees review, or the future of higher education funding please get in touch.
Scott Heath
(020) 7594 8060
IC Extension 58061