25th October 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Universities should be allowed to charge unlimited fees following Lord Browne’s anxiously anticipated report on tuition fees. As reported on the BBC, the cap of £3,290 per year has been lifted, and from 2012, universities may be charging up to £12,000 per year for a standard degree course. The UCU Lecturer’s union said that this was “the final nail in the coffin for affordable higher education”.
Lord Browne’s review isn’t as black and white as it appears though; students will only begin to repay their fees once they earn £21,000 a year or more, and if this never happens, or if someone stops working to raise a family, then they would never have to repay their tuition fees. Also, universities will have to underwrite any loans of more than £6,000 a year, and would only receive a proportion of the tuition fees above £6,000 a year to cover the cost of student borrowing.
Lord Browne claimed that each university is different, and therefore the way in which they are funded must be different. He acknowledged that graduates would have to pay back significantly more than previously for the tuition fee and maintenance loans, but did not consider these to be ‘mortgage-style’ debts. The interest on repayments would also be at the level at which the government borrows; more than previously for tuition fee loans, but less than a commercial rate.
The report will test the already strained relationship between the Tories and Lib Dems regarding their views on tuition fees. Nick Clegg had pledged to remove tuition fees altogether, and those students who supported him in the recent election will feel betrayed when the government introduces the reforms in accordance with Lord Browne’s review.