Universities UK responded to the announcement today that there
will be a ‘major review of university funding and student
finance’ in England. The announcement was made during the Prime
Minister’s party conference speech in Manchester.
Responding to the announcement, Professor Janet
Beer, President of Universities UK and Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Liverpool, said:“The government is
right to look at ways of improving the current student funding
system in England, but it is important that they do not ‘throw
out the baby with the bathwater’ in an attempt to find a quick,
political solution. There are many positive elements to the
current system that should not simply be swept aside.
“The current system provides sustainable funding for universities
and the skilled graduates our economy needs. It has also seen
record numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds
entering university. But we agree that it needs to be better
understood and needs to feel fairer to our students and their
families.
“We’re pleased the government is looking at ways of addressing
students’ money concerns and we welcome the plan to raise the
loan repayment threshold. We hope this will mean reduced interest
rates for low and medium earners. Universities UK would like to
see the government going further by reintroducing targeted
maintenance grants for those most in need. Any review would also
need to do more to reverse the worrying decline in the numbers of
part-time and mature students.
“We have a world class reputation for university teaching, but it
is important that this is funded sustainably. As the IFS said
this week, freezing the cap on tuition fees, with no compensating
grants, directly reduces university funding. If kept in place,
this would risk universities' ability to provide students with
the world-class education they rightly expect.”
ENDS
Notes
- Universities UK
responded earlier this week to the Conservative party proposals
on tuition fees to raise the repayment threshold to £25,000 and
freezing the fee cap at £9,250. See media release
- Professor Janet
Beer wrote an article recently for
Guardian Higher Education Network about the current student
funding system in England and how it could be improved.
- The IFS
published a new analysis this
week looking at the possible impact of the Conservative party
plan to raise the repayment threshold to £25,000 and freezing
the fee cap at £9,250.
