Today, Lord Browne recommended that the tuition fees cap should be scrapped, and universities should be allowed to charge anything they want. Bearing in mind that Government support for universities would be limited to £7k/annum, the likely result of Browne's report is that from 2012 university fees will be doubled, meaning a Bachelor's course would leave your average student in around £21k of debt, and a Master's would leave them in around £28k of debt. Couple that with potentially crippling interest rates by the time they come to pay it off, and you can see that the future looks incredibly bleak for students starting university next year (that's if they get in, with record demand and record cuts to supply it's obvious that a smaller percentage of applicants will win a place this time round).
Of course, the problem for the government is that students can really kick up a stink when they don't get what they want. I'm sure most parents could verify that. Yes, I appreciate that comparing a rise in tuition fees to large scale social injustice as a trigger for student activism is an unfair and perhaps somewhat cynical comparison, but my point is that students were able to influence politics on a huge scale, and fundamentally, there is no reason this couldn't happen again.
Am I suggesting that come Wednesday morning Parliament Square will be teeming with students holding placards and chanting lamely? No.
In fact, the political influence I'm talking about is the simplest form of political influence any individual can have. Voting.
Before 2015, there will be a lot of students who either will not be able to afford university or who will be emerging with a lot of debt. The Coalition government is going to see a big backlash in areas where it holds student controlled seats. The Liberal Democrats won't be fairing too well at local elections in student areas next May either.
Let's not forget the long run repercussions of this. By allowing universities to charge what they like, we'll be limiting access to Higher Education for thousands of students, while offering no alternative to them by means of apprenticeships or additional training courses. We're decreasing our skilled workforce and eventually aggregate supply will slump. The economy will not grow in the future if we don't give the tools needed for it to flourish.
Increasing fees reduces demand for Higher Education, and it therefore reduces the Supply of skilled labour. This is AS economics, no more, no less. This Government cannot be recognised as a credible authority on economic management if it fails to consider the long term implications of it actions.
How can students from low and middle income backgrounds possibly afford to get to university on a level playing field with their more fortunate counterparts without feeling like charity cases?
The "Access and Success" fund which Browne recommends should be set up would suggest that those from less fortunate backgrounds should indeed be treated as charity cases.
Browne suggests that there should be a minimum entry standard that must be met by students in need of financial support. So it's alright if you're thick and can get into university because mummy and daddy can pay, but it's not okay if you're thick and mummy and daddy can't pay?
University should be universal and Browne's recommendation certainly isn't in the spirit of the universality of educational opportunity.
Vince Cable today announced that the Government accepts the recommendations and would shortly respond to the report formally. Yes. Vince Cable. The very same Vince Cable who signed a pledge not 6 months ago that read: "I pledge to vote against any increase in [university] fees in the next parliament, and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative".
Now, I'm the first to admit that politicians change their minds and tell lies fairly often. But when a political party believes itself to be so high and mighty and infallible that it can sign a pledge specifically in relation to one policy, and can fly that policy as its flagship policy for years, and then in it's first 6 months in government, completely renege on that policy after having falsely led on millions of voters..? That's not on.
On November 11th, 2010, the NUS and UCU will be marching against rises in fees and cuts to universities.
Fancy a walk?
