28 April 2010
The real Higher Education 'disaster' is a shortage of places
The university think-tank million+ has today challenged the Lib Dems’ decision to simplify election discussions on higher education to a question of ‘no fees versus higher fees’. Professor Les Ebdon, Chair of the university think-tank million+, said: “Voters will go to the polls in just over a week’s time and Nick Clegg is right to point out that the future of universities and students has hardly been mentioned. However, a genuine debate about higher education must include the parties setting out their commitments not just to tuition fees but to investment in universities to aid the recovery, funding for research and postgraduate study and crucially to social mobility and ensuring that every applicant who is qualified and wants to go to university gets a place.
“Nick Clegg has labelled higher fees a ‘disaster’ but the real ‘disaster’ would be thousands of would-be students left without a place at university this September or in future years because there wasn’t enough money in the pot to fund a place for them. Inevitably, it will be poorer students who miss out on the life-changing opportunity of a place at university whilst wealthier students gain access to the increased earnings and job prospects that a university education brings.
“We need to hear much more from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat Parties on the future funding of universities and students but we need detailed and fully-costed policies not just slogans and point-scoring. The Lib Dems have put a £1.765billion a year price tag on ending fees, our estimates suggest it would be £2billion. The real question must be what will be cut to fund this. There is a real risk that it could be the chance for everyone to go university and for that university to be well-funded for both teaching and research.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. million+ is a leading university think-tank, working to solve the complex problems in higher education www.millionplus.ac.uk
2. For more information, comment or interviews from million+ please contact Victoria Mills on 020 7717 1659 or 07900 277819
3. The Lib Dems have pledged to phase out tuition fees for first degrees over a six year period. Their manifesto estimates that in Year 5 of their plans this would cost £1.765billion. Based on modeling commissioned from London Economics, million+ estimates that the costs for the full scrapping of fees would be £2billion in Year 5 if there was no change in student numbers. This cost would rise if student numbers increased
4. Could do better: the scorecard for higher education sets out the higher education pledges of the three main parties in England and how they compare to a million+ ‘Gold Standard’. It has been sent to parliamentary candidates