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English students face university fees of £16,000 a year

Release date: 5 October 2010

A think-tank claims that undergraduates would end up being charged the same levels as those from overseas – five times what they currently pay – if higher education institutions are allowed to set their own prices.

The Sutton Trust warns that any move by the Government to introduce a free market in tuition fees would harm poor students, who would be priced out of elite campuses and the best courses.

It also fears the economy could suffer if colleges focus on recruiting more lucrative foreign students, who are likely to return home to work after completing degrees in Britain.

The study comes as Lord Browne of Madingley, the former chief executive of BP, prepares to unveil his proposals for the future of higher education in a highly-anticipated Government review due to be published later this month.

It has been suggested that he will say universities should be allowed to keep income from tuition fees up to an annual limit of £10,000, three times the current cap of £3,290, but could charge even more if they agree to pay some of the extra towards bursaries for poorer students.

In the new report, the Sutton Trust examines the fees charged to overseas students – those from outside Britain and the European Union – as they are not subject to a cap.

It found that in the previous academic year, 2009/10, international undergraduates paid on average £9,350 for humanities courses and £10,900 for laboratory-based subjects such as science. These fees have risen, on average, by 30 per cent and 40 per cent respectively since 2002/03.

The highest fee found was £21,400, to study Maths at Imperial College London.

Postgraduates from overseas faced being charged as much as £19,224 to study Economics at the London School of Economics.

The most prestigious universities, and those based in the capital, were found to charge the highest rates.

The Sutton Trust says these figures “give an indication of what the non regulated fee market may look like”.

It says the tuition fees currently charged to overseas students are between three and five times those charged to their English peers. If the current capped fee rose by a similar amount it would reach £16,450 a year.

This would deter many young people from going to university, it is claimed, particularly the best-performing institutions which would charge the highest fees.

A separate report by the British Medical Association claims that medical students could be left with debts of up to £100,000 by the time they qualify, if tuition fees rise to £10,000 a year.

The Sutton Report report also found that there are three times as many non-EU students at English universities than there were in 1994, bringing in £2.18billion a year in fees, while the Government has capped the number of home students to save money.

If current trends continue, by 2015 international students will make up a tenth of the undergraduate cohort and half of all postgraduates.

Vice-chancellors are likely to seek more students from overseas because neither their numbers nor the amount of money they bring in is restricted by the Government.

The Sutton Trust acknowledges that foreign students can help subsidies places for domestic students and contribute to the economy while they are here.

But it also worries that they may “crowd out” British students, damage the ratio of pupils to teachers and also harm the economy if they return home to start careers.

The think-tank suggests that poor students should be allowed to attend the first year of university without charge, and that institutions should be given “financial incentives” to take those from less well-off families.

Sir Peter Lampl, the chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: "Any future finance system that deters poorer students from top degree courses because of spiralling costs and freezes on student numbers will be a double blow for social mobility. At the same time, we need to ensure that universities do not have a financial disincentive to recruit home students from all backgrounds."

A Department for Business spokesman said: "While it is good to have wide public debate about future funding options it is also important to be clear that the current system is no longer fit for purpose. We need a new funding settlement which promotes world class competitiveness in teaching and research, with better quality for students.

"Lord Browne is currently undertaking a review of university funding and student finance and the and we will judge its proposals against the need to take into account the impact on student debt, ensure a properly funded university sector, improve the quality of teaching, advance scholarship, increase social mobility and attract a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds."


Source: Telegraph.co.uk