UK university vice chancellors are to hear that raising student tuition fees is the best way to ensure future funding for higher education.
David Willetts, universities minister, is expected to claim that future funding for higher education can be totally ensured by raising student tuition fees after the Universities UK conference at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire. The Tory MP considers that this decision is better than reducing both the number of students and standard of courses. Not so far ago his Lib Dem partners in the coalition government called for canceling tuition fees in the UK.
According to custom papers, Universities in England are expecting two major announcements this autumn. The first one is cutting higher education budgets by 20% and the second is the result of Lord Browne’s review regarding long term university funding.
The university minister’s speech will examine three aspects – higher fees, the results of the rapid rise in student numbers and adoption of funding cuts in order to decrease the standard of university teaching. It is considered that Willets’ proposal to students to pay more is the best option. However, Vince Cable has suggested an alternative – graduate tax linked to postgraduate salaries. Under a graduate tax, some students may find themselves in a situation when they will have to pay more than university fees for their study. This idea was not supported in government as the ministers consider it may be unfair for graduates with higher income to pay more for their degrees.
Lord Browne is expected to raise fees to around £7,000, rejecting a graduate tax. The National Union of Students is also opposed to higher university fees and supports the idea of a variable graduate tax.