Search the Community

How will the fake libs spin this one? Students in universities in England face tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year from 2012, as the government reveals its plans for higher education. The coalition's response to Lord Browne's funding review will be published on Wednesday. Universities will be able to charge £6,000, with a higher tier of £9,000 - nearly treble existing levels - if they promote access for poorer students. The National Union of Students dubbed the plan "an outrage". Much of the proposed fee rise, up from the current £3,290 per year, will replace public funding withdrawn from universities in last month's Spending Review. 'Big risk' The Million+ group of new universities has warned the cuts will mean universities will be forced to charge the maximum £9,000 - and that the proposals are "very unlikely" to provide a "long-term and sustainable basis" for university funding. "Unless universities charge £9,000 there is a big risk that they will be worse and not better-off because of the swingeing cuts to teaching funding. The fear then must be that the outcome of such high fees will be to damage participation and social mobility," said Million+ chair, Professor Les Ebdon. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Unless universities charge £9,000 there is a big risk that they will be worse and not better-off because of the swingeing cuts to teaching funding” End Quote Professor Les Ebdon Million+ group of new universities Ministers have been trying to achieve a balancing act between a sustainable funding system for universities and a political deal which will head off a Liberal Democrat backbench rebellion. NUS president, Aaron Porter, said Liberal Democrat MPs who were going to ditch their election pledge to vote against any rise in fees should be "ashamed of themselves". Opposition leader Ed Miliband accused the coalition of breaking promises over tuition fees - but Prime Minister David Cameron said that such challenges from Labour showed that "opportunism has overtaken principle". The funding package is to be announced by the Universities Minister David Willetts at 1230 GMT, rather than Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable who delivered the government's initial response to Lord Browne's review. Mr Willetts is expected to say that universities charging the highest fees will have to show support for widening access to students from economically poorer backgrounds. This would mean the type of outreach programmes that many universities already carry out, such as summer schools and targeted scholarships. No quotas Education Secretary Michael Gove has said this would not mean quotas of students from poor homes, but universities would be expected to show they were "energetically pursuing" such applicants. Continue reading the main story CURRENT UK TUITION FEES England, Wales, Northern Ireland: Max £3,290 pa Scotland: Free to Scottish and EU students, £1,820 pa to other UK (£2,895 for medicine) Students from elsewhere in the EU pay the same as those locally Students from outside the EU pay whatever the university charges Tuition fees: Across the UK Send us your comments Interest rates for loan repayments and earnings thresholds could also be adjusted to give more support to disadvantaged students. Under the plans, students would take out loans to pay the fees. But they would pay the loans back only once they graduated and got a job paying more than £21,000, rather than the current threshold of £15,000. Graduates would pay 9% cent of their income above £21,000 per year to pay off both the loan, and an above-inflation rate of interest. It is expected that any graduates who wish to repay all or some of their loan more quickly would have to pay a penalty to compensate for the interest they would no longer pay. But it is expected that better-off students will still be able to pay up front for their university education and avoid taking out a loan altogether. Mr Gove said that under the new system "there's no barrier for people coming from poorer homes, and there's no penalty for people who choose to go into a low paying job". Higher students fees will replace the government funding withdrawn in the Spending Review But the Liberal Democrats' youth group rejected the proposals. "The current burden of debt is already weighing heavily on many students, and putting many others off going to university altogether," said Liberal Youth chairman Martin Shapland. Shadow Business Secretary John Denham said the plan would mean "massive fee increases" without better funding for the university system. The proposal was "the worst of all possible worlds", he said, where smaller universities would not be able to attract students at higher fee levels, while elite institutions would struggle to compete internationally. 'Dark days' Michael Arthur, vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds, and chairman of the Russell Group of top universities, said the funding deal sent a signal that the government recognised "the importance of higher education to the future of our country, its economy and our ability as universities to help the country out of recession". There have been warnings about a two-tier system emerging from the split level of fees. David Barclay, president of Oxford University Student Union, says: "A two-cap system will mean a two-tier system returning us to the dark days of some universities for the many and some universities for the few." Mr Barclay has been invited to meet Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on Wednesday, as the coalition tries to sell the funding package. The changes in tuition fees will apply to universities in England. Scottish students studying in Scotland do not have to pay any fees. In Northern Ireland and Wales, fees are currently charged up to a maximum of £3,290. BBC News - Students face tuition fees rising to £9,000