Posted June 7, 201114 yr Student numbers could be cut to cover spiralling cost of loans Ministers underestimated how many universities would charge £9,000 fees – and now face huge bill to fund student loans Source - The Guardian Tough quotas on student numbers may have to be introduced to avoid the creation of a spending black hole under plans to raise tuition fees at English universities to a maximum of £9,000, a powerful committee of MPs has warned. Ministers underestimated how many universities would charge the maximum fee and now face an annual bill to fund the interest-free student loans that is "several hundred million pounds" higher than anticipated, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports. The current balance of outstanding loans – £24bn – is expected to rise to £70bn by 2015-16, the report says. Margaret Hodge, the chair of the committee, said: "At present, more universities intend to charge higher fees than the department had expected. If the universities' plans to widen participation are approved by the Office for Fair Access, this will leave a substantial funding gap which will either require further cuts in higher education or further resources from the Treasury." Whitehall sources told the Guardian they would not know the true cost of the policy until students had turned up at freshers' week in 2012. Reducing student numbers below the current cap would prove deeply unpopular after several years of increasing demand and an annual row over the competition for university places. While some students will forgo loans and universities will subsidise some of the fees with bursaries, ministers will still have to consider other options "which might range from finding more money through to reducing places available", the PAC report says. Figures compiled by the Guardian reveal that as of Monday, 105 universities had declared the fee they will charge, with an average of £8,765. The government modelled its plans on an average fee of £7,500. The Office for Fair Access is vetting universities' fee plans. They will announce on 11 July which have been agreed. A Whitehall source said uncertainty over the costs was inevitable given the number of variables but insisted that they were confident that the figures they had used were the best projection. Whitehall sources indicated on Monday that students at the New College of the Humanities – a new private university being set up by high-profile academics including AC Grayling – would not be entitled to government-backed student loans because its £18,000-a-year fees break the £9,000 cap. The university's backers have said they expected students to be eligible for loans of up to £6,000 from next year in line with other private universities. They are also seeking commercial loans. The forthcoming white paper on higher education is expected to set boundaries of a "level playing field" between traditional institutions and new private providers. Only students at universities charging under the £9,000 cap are expected to be eligible for state-backed finance. Ministers are expected to pave the way for students educated privately to borrow up to £9,000. However, private universities charging fees above £6,000 are also expected to become subject to government requirements on widening access to students from poorer backgrounds. A growing number of universities are warning of uncertainty over the policy. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of umbrella group for higher education, Universities UK, said: "While it is quite clear that changes are ahead, there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to the level of student demand and for which courses, and the extent to which students will take out student loans. The final cost of the new funding system to the government is therefore far from clear." But the uncertainty is compounded by predictions that applications could collapse when students are faced with higher fees, putting some less popular institutions in financial jeopardy. The PAC calls for clarification about what the government will do when universities are in danger. Meanwhile Oxford University is poised to take an unprecedented vote of no confidence in the higher education minister, David Willetts, on Tuesday in the most aggressive act of the university against a government since its dons vetoed an honorary degree for Margaret Thatcher. Oxford dons will vote on a resolution that says: "Congregation instructs council to communicate to government that the University of Oxford has no confidence in the policies of the minister for higher education." Cambridge, Goldsmiths and Warwick are to embark on similar exercises. There is fury in parts of the academic community about the hikes in fees – but also about funding cuts, particularly to the arts. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, called on every university to hold a vote of no confidence claiming that the plans were in "disarray". • This article was amended on 7th June 2011. It originally stated that the Oxford vote of no confidence in David Willetts was on Monday. It is in fact scheduled to take place on Tuesday. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seriously, is David Willetts just a complete plank...? He talks about having "two brains"... Really...? Frankly, I think that's a typo, because I'd be frankly surprised if he had two brain-CELLS firing at the same time.... What the hell did they think was going to happen once they slashed state funding to universities and then told them they could raise fees to £9k..? "oh, but it was only supposed to be a select few universities that would charge the top rate"..... Honestly, this is what these f**king morons actually thought, maybe not word for word, but this was the assumption that Clegg, Hughes, Willetts, Cameron, et al were working on, and, well, that turned out to be a right load of pony... Then Clegg has the brass nerve to criticise Universities for basically charging what he and his cronies actually said they could charge... You honestly couldn't make this up... Okay, maybe certain unis have a bit of brass nerve charging 8-9k, but that's neither here nor there, the door was opened by this government for them to do so, so it's a bit rich for them to then turn around and slag them off for doing exactly what was in the provisions of the bill that was passed in December... So now, we're in a right blooming pickle aren't we...? The outstanding cost of loans is set to almost triple in the next few years... So, what the hell has actually been gained from this exercise? Was slashing uni funding going to reduce the deficit..? Err, well, certainly not now if this deal with the outstanding loans is the case, the money to cover this has to come from somewhere... So, well done Cameron and Clegg, the bloody Laurel and Hardy of politics, another fine mess you've gotten us into.... Dicks....
June 9, 201114 yr Only a right idiot would say oh yes you can charge up to a certian amount for something, then be shocked when everybody charges the maximum amount just because they can. Seriously.
June 16, 201114 yr Author Only a right idiot would say oh yes you can charge up to a certian amount for something, then be shocked when everybody charges the maximum amount just because they can. Seriously. Precisely....
June 16, 201114 yr All the Welsh universities seeking to charge fees over £6,000 have been told that their plans to help students from low income households are not good enough. They will either have to reduce their fees or improve their plans.
June 16, 201114 yr Author All the Welsh universities seeking to charge fees over £6,000 have been told that their plans to help students from low income households are not good enough. They will either have to reduce their fees or improve their plans. Coalishun maybe trying to get back at Wales for effectively rubbishing their HE plans.... ? The Labour-led Welsh Assembly haven't exactly been too happy with the fees rise.....
June 16, 201114 yr Coalishun maybe trying to get back at Wales for effectively rubbishing their HE plans.... ? The Labour-led Welsh Assembly haven't exactly been too happy with the fees rise..... It's decided by a quango, not the government.
June 16, 201114 yr Only a right idiot would say oh yes you can charge up to a certian amount for something, then be shocked when everybody charges the maximum amount just because they can. Seriously. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortar...economic-theory There's also this reason.
June 16, 201114 yr Author http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortar...economic-theory There's also this reason. That's pretty good reasoning too....
Create an account or sign in to comment