University tuition fees increase to £9,000 per year in England

Universities in England will be able to charge tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year from 2012, as the government transfers much of the cost of courses from the state to students.

Fees will rise to £6,000, with an upper tier of £9,000 if universities ensure access for poorer students. Much of the proposed fee rise, up from the current £3,290 per year, will replace funding cut from universities in last month's Spending Review.

The changes in tuition fees will apply to universities in England. Scottish students studying in Scotland do not have to pay any fees. In Northern Ireland and Wales, fees are currently charged up to a maximum of £3,290.

Universities Minister David Willetts said graduates earning less than £21,000 per year would not pay any real interest on loans, but rates would rise to inflation plus 3% at £41,000 per year and above.

Commentary

A more progressive policy to address the challenge of funding our higher education would be a business education tax levied on the top 4% of UK companies, which would generate enough annually to abolish tuition fees and take our public investment in higher education up to the average in other comparable countries. - Green Party

Muslim student leaders say changes to tuition fees in England could breach Islamic rules on finance, which do not permit interest charges. - BBC News

The ConDem regime has put aside more money for the Afghanistan war than for university education for British kids, and the new increase in tuition fees means that our youth face the highest cost of education in the world.

According to an analysis of the cost of the Afghanistan war published last year, the direct military cost of that conflict was in excess of £12 billion.

In the spending review cuts announced by Chancellor George Osborne, the higher education budget was cut from £7.1 billion to £4.2 billion.
The practical effect of this cut has now come home to roost. Universities have been granted the right to unilaterally increase tuition fees up to £9,000 per year. Fees are currently £3,290 a year. - British National Party

The medium to long term effect of this huge rise in tuition fees remains to be seen. The last government was very 'clever' by setting tuition fees at a sufficiently low level that made it difficult for foreign and online universities to compete on price with redbricks. Any university department that decides to charge tuition fees of £9,000 per year risks being priced out of the market unless it can guarantee that enough places will be filled by students from wealthy backgrounds. Globalisation has affected most sectors of the economy and education is far from immune. Students who are unable or unwilling to pay extortionate fees charged by British universities have the option of studying at a university in a foreign country or at an online university. There are thousands of universities in third world countries that are potentially able to charge students tuition fees less than £3,000 per year because salaries and living costs are much lower than those in the UK. These universities might be low down on international league tables for research, but when it comes to undergrad level material, their lecturers are just as good as British lecturers and a high proportion of them speak fluent English as well. Opening up their doors to British students will bring much needed hard currency into the country and will raise their reputation of being a global player in education rather than catering to locals who cannot afford to study at a prestigious university in the US or Europe.

My son thinks that tuition fees are a complete rip off. One of his friends said that if a teenager is interested in a career in software development then they would be better off making money from creating iPhone apps rather than studying for a computer science degree.

The concept of British students studying in foreign countries or at online universities is interesting. It is something we should keep our eyes focused on. If it takes off in a big way then it will reduce British universities to playgrounds for the wealthy.

Universities primarily exist as money making machines rather than centres of learning. Cash for qualifications has replaced exchange and dissemination of knowledge. It's quite commonplace to find university courses where over half the students are wealthy foreigners. Heads of these departments tend to view home students as little more than unwanted baggage as they bring in less revenue than overseas students do. The course offered is tailored to the whims and desires of the countries where the students originate from rather than to the needs and requirements of the UK economy and society.

My son is writing an article about why he doesn't want to go to university and what the alternatives are.

I once heard a head of department say "no fees, no degrees". When I asked, he defended tuition fees to the hilt as his priority was attracting more overseas students.



This sounds very exciting.

British MPs have voted to increase university tuition fees to a maximum of £9,000 after several days of angry protests in London. The motion was passed with a narrow majority of 21 MPs, with 323 voting against and 302 voting for.

Here is a summary of how Lib Dem MPs voted:

Lib Dems voting FOR - 28 MPs

· Danny Alexander
· Norman Baker
· Sir Alan Beith
· Gordon Birtwistle
· Tom Brake
· Jeremy Browne
· Malcolm Bruce
· Paul Burstow
· Vincent Cable
· Alistair Carmichael
· Nick Clegg
· Edward Davey
· Lynne Featherstone
· Don Foster
· Stephen Gilbert
· Duncan Hames
· Nick Harvey
· David Heath
· John Hemming
· Norman Lamb
· David Laws
· Michael Moore
· Andrew Stunell
· Jo Swinson
· Sarah Teather
· David Ward
· Steve Webb

Lib Dems voting AGAINST - 21 MPs

· Annette Brooke
· Sir Menzies Campbell
· Michael Crockart
· Tim Farron
· Andrew George
· Mike Hancock
· Julian Huppert
· Charles Kennedy
· John Leech
· Stephen Lloyd
· Greg Mulholland
· John Pugh
· Alan Reid
· Dan Rogerson
· Bob Russell
· Adrian Sanders
· Ian Swales
· Mark Williams
· Roger Williams
· Jenny Willott
· Simon Wright

Lib Dems ABSTAINED OR ABSENT - 8 MPs

· Lorely Burt
· Simon Hughes
· Tessa Munt
· Sir Robert Smith
· John Thurso
· Stephen Williams
· Chris Huhne(at climate summit in Mexico)
· Martin Horwood(at climate summit in Mexico)

In addition, a small number of Conservative MPs abstained or voted against the motion.

Conservatives voting AGAINST

· David Davis
· Julian Lewis
· Andrew Percy
· Jason McCartney
· Philip Davies
· Mark Reckless

Conservatives ABSTAINED

· Lee Scott (abstained)
· Tracey Couch(abstained)

On Wednesday 15th December, the House of Lords ratified the plan to increase tuition fees to £9,000.

Outcome

A strong sense of anger has resulted from the Lib Dem tuition fees "betrayal".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is being called 'traitor' by both the British public and members of his own party over the Lib Dems decision under his leadership to renege on their tuition fees pledge. Clegg admitted that fellow party members have described him as "Judas" for failing to stick to the pre-election promises that Lib Dems will oppose any rises in the university tuition fees. Support for the Lib Dems is now at an all time low with as little as 11% of the public supporting the party according to an opinion poll. There is a strong possibility that Clegg and many other Lib Dem MPs will lose their seats at the next general election.

It is highly likely that a steep rise in tuition fees for universities in Northern Ireland will take place within the next few years

Britain has now entered uncharted territory and it is difficult to say what the long term outlook is for higher education although several good suggestions have been made in previous posts. I personally see the governments decision to increase tuition fees as a step on the road towards privatisation of universities.