Dons disturbed
Dons from Cambridge University have recently spoken out over fears that bursaries will eat up all of the extra income from top-up-fees.
Cambridge University plans to give their poorest students an annual bursary of up to £4000 when top-up fees are introduced. This would cost the University eight million pounds, almost half of what they would receive from the implementation of top-up-fees. Should access be widened, as the government hopes, this figure could rise to 17 million.
Critics of the scheme, led by Cambridge Professor Gillian Evans, claim the plan will be self-defeating if dons are successful in attracting more working class students. However, a spokesman for the University insisted that sceptics had simply not read the full details of the proposals.
Oxford University appeared unconcerned by these fears. "We are very keen to have a generous bursary system in place so that no student is deterred from coming to Oxford for financial reasons", a spokesperson told The OxStu. "We already have an Oxford Bursary Scheme in place for students from lower-income backgrounds, which shows our commitment to supporting poorer students. We would be delighted to widen access and then the University would simply have to look at other ways of raising money, such as from alumni and sponsors."
22nd Jan 2004