By Lois Avery
Universities could raise their tuition fees to £6,000 or more if controversial new proposals are given the go-ahead.
Lord Browne’s report on higher education funding, released today, recommends that the government lift the current £3,290 cap on tuition fees.
The review, commissioned by the government, proposes a free market under which universities can charge any fees they believe they can command. It also argues that this new system of financing will allow for a 10 per cent increase in student places, meeting rapidly rising demand for a degree-level education.
The report suggests that any university which charges over £6,000 should be subject to a levy to make sure they contribute to supporting poorer students, and Lord Browne recommends that graduates earning above a £21,000 threshold pay their loans back with interest.
This would be charged at the cost of borrowing to the government, plus inflation. At present, the majority of former students (those who started during or after 1998) purely pay back the cost of inflation.
Although the government is not strictly committed to adopting any of the proposals, the idea of lifting the lid on tuition fees has already created tensions within the coalition.
The Liberal Democrats fiercely oppose any rise in tuition fees, a policy that was a core feature within their election manifesto.
And there are fears that if the Conservatives support the proposals there could be a back-bench revolt, with many MPs already vowing to vote against it.
Commenting on the report, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes says that the party will consider the report’s suggestions but are committed to finding a ‘fair and progressive way of meeting the costs’ of funding further education.
“All Liberal Democrat MPs are very conscious of the positions we have taken on higher education and the policies we campaigned for at the last election,” he said
“It is important that government policy on higher education funding moves this country on from the present unfair tuition fee system.”
But, student bodies argue that it will impact heavily on families and could prevent poorer families sending their children to university.
Kate Moore, head of savings and investments at Family Investments, said that a combination of factors mean the decision of whether to go to university is now more about financial considerations than educational benefits.
“It’s not just fees which are on the increase, the monthly cost of living for a full time student has increased from £561 in 2004 to £718 today,” she said. “If the cost of living continues to rise at the pace seen in recent years, students may need to find as much as £818 a month just to meet their basic living costs by 2013”.
The other main features of the report propose that unpaid student debt would be written off after 30 years, rather than 25 years. All students would also be entitled to flat-rate maintenance loans rather than the current means-tested system, while the proposals argued students should not have to pay any tuition fees up front.
