Call for students to pay higher fees to help struggling universities

Students should pay higher fees and more taxpayers’ cash is needed to tackle a funding black hole in England’s universities, a body representing 141 institutions said.

Universities UK (UUK) said government grants and fees have not kept pace with rising costs, causing budget deficits.

Tuition fees for home students in England have been capped at £9,250 since 2017 and UUK said any increase should be accompanied by additional support to help with the cost of studying through maintenance loans and grants.

UUK president Professor Dame Sally Mapstone said: “What we’re looking for from the new Government is the opportunity for a reset, and the opportunity to look right across the funding arrangements for fees and with students.”

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “The major problem with university finance is that for the past eight to nine years, direct government grants and fees haven’t kept up with the cost of teaching and with inflation, so more and more institutions are facing a budget deficit overall.

“We think that there needs to be a good dialogue with government in partnership about the relationship between the direct teaching grant that government can provide and the fees that students pay.

“We are alert to the fact, of course, that when you say fees should go up, people are alarmed at the consequences for students, which is why we also think that it’s very important that the support that students get in terms of maintenance loans and grants also be looked at.”

UUK’s proposals suggest that if investment in teaching students had kept up with inflation, funding per student would be in the region of £12,000-£13,000.

Put to her that would mean students borrowing more and accumulating greater debt, Dame Sally said: “It undoubtedly is the case that if you learn more, you earn more, and you have to look at the benefit of university education across a lifetime.

“There is very good evidence that if you go to university in your 20s and in your 30s, you will be earning more than if you didn’t. Although the £12,000 to £13,000 figure is very much within our proposals, we are not saying that fees should go up to that.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We will create a secure future for our world-leading universities as engines of growth and opportunity so they can deliver for students, local communities and the economy.

“We have inherited a challenging set of circumstances in higher education.

“The Education Secretary has taken the crucial first step of refocusing the role of the Office for Students on key areas such as monitoring financial sustainability, to ensure universities can secure their financial health in the longer term.

“By bringing economic stability and growth, we can fix the foundations of our economy, strengthen our higher education system and rebuild Britain.”