million+ comment on £7000 tuition fees
In response to a comment from David Willetts MP, Conservatives Universities Spokesperson, the university think-tank million+ warned that an uplift in university tuition fees to £7000 per year was likely to cost the Exchequer an additional £1billion for every cohort of students who study at university for 3 years.
Pam Tatlow Chief Executive of university think tank million+ said “An increase in tuition fees to £7000 per year will cost the Exchequer an additional £1billion for every cohort of students if current Government-supported student loan arrangements are maintained. If the Conservatives expect universities to make up the difference in student loan support, universities will be very unlikely to offer additional loans at the preferential rates currently provided by the Government. The result would be that approximately 16000 students are likely to consider that going to university would be unaffordable and therefore would be unlikely to progress to higher education.
It is all too easy for headline increases in tuition fees to be floated into the public domain without evidence based analysis to assess the consequences. It is crucially important that proposals to amend the current fee arrangement for fulltime students are subject to proper analysis so the consequences for the Exchequer, universities and students are properly understood.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- million+ is a leading university think-tank, working to solve the complex problems in higher education. www.millionplus.ac.uk
- For more information and interviews please contact Pam Tatlow on 0207 7171655 or 07795 645241