£3,000 Not Enough
Following the recent controversy surrounding the publication of the White Paper on higher education by Charles Clarke, further speculation has arisen following potentially alarming comments by Roderick Floud, President of Universities U.K.
Mr Floud has admitted that the £3.7 billion provided by the government and further £1.8 billion which will be raised through top-up fees, whilst "a substantial sum", will not be enough. If a much-needed improvement in teaching and research facilities is to be ensured, around £4 billion more would be required.
Roderick Floud's comments to MPs and members of the Commons Education Select Committee have raised concerns that this gap will be covered either by removing or raising the government-specified 'cap' which limits fees to £3,000 a year.
Mr Floud did, however, support the government in their guarantee that the new arrangements would not require students to pay up-front and in the provision of maintenance grants for students unable to pay.
The Oxford University Press Office cautiously told The OxStu that "such issues have not really been considered yet", with the University having only recently received details of the White Paper. When asked to comment, the Universities U.K. Press Office asserted that such speculations were a result of "not necessarily accurate reporting" by journalists.
From 2006, the government expects that most of Britain's top universities will be able to levy variable fees. However, the government's previous commitment to link a universities right to levy higher fees to an active effort to widen access to poorer students has been quietly dropped. Margaret Hodge, the higher education minister, has argued that there would not be time for a new regulator to judge a universities access policy before the first funding decisions are made.
This may come as a relief to Heads of Universities who express doubts as to the 'purpose and role of the regulator' and worry that such a policy will merely lead to an increase in bureaucracy. Vice Chancellors feel that access problems are related to the low staying on rate in schools at the age of sixteen and are not, necessarily, a result of university policy.
Universities UK will meet again next month to discuss the proposals in more detail.
13th Feb 2003