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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/10/tuition-fees-force-for-good-flaws-students-interest-debts
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| Tuition fees have been a force for good, but their flaws need addressing urgently | Tuition fees have been a force for good, but their flaws need addressing urgently |
| (5 days later) | |
| Since the general election – and the apparently transformative effect of Jeremy Corbyn’s promise to abolish tuition fees on students’ willingness to vote, and on his party – there has been a fascinating debate about our system of student finance. | Since the general election – and the apparently transformative effect of Jeremy Corbyn’s promise to abolish tuition fees on students’ willingness to vote, and on his party – there has been a fascinating debate about our system of student finance. |
| On one side, we have heard Jo Johnson, the universities minister, valiantly defending the system of tuition fees and loans despite unhelpful noises off from senior colleagues in the cabinet. On the other, we have Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, estimating the cost of Labour’s plan to cancel outstanding student loans at a cool £100bn (roughly the cost of running the NHS for a year), while her leader persists in his claim that university applications from disadvantaged people have gone down when everyone from FullFact to the BBC says this isn’t true. And in the middle, we have heard the Institute for Fiscal Studies delivering the awkward objectivity about the implications of both parties’ policies that makes it so beloved of politicians. | On one side, we have heard Jo Johnson, the universities minister, valiantly defending the system of tuition fees and loans despite unhelpful noises off from senior colleagues in the cabinet. On the other, we have Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, estimating the cost of Labour’s plan to cancel outstanding student loans at a cool £100bn (roughly the cost of running the NHS for a year), while her leader persists in his claim that university applications from disadvantaged people have gone down when everyone from FullFact to the BBC says this isn’t true. And in the middle, we have heard the Institute for Fiscal Studies delivering the awkward objectivity about the implications of both parties’ policies that makes it so beloved of politicians. |
| But the IFS is right. The truth is complicated. Our system of student finance has delivered the chance of a university education to vastly more people than ever before, and made it more likely that disadvantaged young people will be offered the chance to get a degree. But it has some very real flaws, some potentially fatal, that the government ignores at its peril. | But the IFS is right. The truth is complicated. Our system of student finance has delivered the chance of a university education to vastly more people than ever before, and made it more likely that disadvantaged young people will be offered the chance to get a degree. But it has some very real flaws, some potentially fatal, that the government ignores at its peril. |
| When the coalition government first introduced tuition fees of up to £9,000, most politicians expected better courses at better universities to cost £9,000 and the rest at a range of prices between £6,000 and £9,000. This did not happen. Almost every institution moved the price of every course, regardless of quality and cost, to £9,000. | When the coalition government first introduced tuition fees of up to £9,000, most politicians expected better courses at better universities to cost £9,000 and the rest at a range of prices between £6,000 and £9,000. This did not happen. Almost every institution moved the price of every course, regardless of quality and cost, to £9,000. |
| In an admirable effort to ensure this cannot continue, the universities minister introduced controls to ensure that further increases above £9,000 are justified by demonstrated teaching quality. But he may now need to consider intervening more aggressively to deny the existing £9,000-a-year price tag to some of the courses offered by lower-quality universities today. If universities are going to behave like a cartel, government must be assertive in standing up for consumers. | In an admirable effort to ensure this cannot continue, the universities minister introduced controls to ensure that further increases above £9,000 are justified by demonstrated teaching quality. But he may now need to consider intervening more aggressively to deny the existing £9,000-a-year price tag to some of the courses offered by lower-quality universities today. If universities are going to behave like a cartel, government must be assertive in standing up for consumers. |
| We should start by investigating whether, where and how students are receiving value for money. The National Student Survey captures lots of useful data – and much of it should set alarm bells ringing in vice-chancellors’ offices. I would like to see a detailed comparative study of different fee-based university systems around the world to see how many hours of lectures or tuition (with a full professor and not a graduate student) undergraduates receive (course by course), and how much each hour effectively costs the student. With no variety in course prices, it is hard for British students to shop around in the UK. The government should give them the information to do so. | We should start by investigating whether, where and how students are receiving value for money. The National Student Survey captures lots of useful data – and much of it should set alarm bells ringing in vice-chancellors’ offices. I would like to see a detailed comparative study of different fee-based university systems around the world to see how many hours of lectures or tuition (with a full professor and not a graduate student) undergraduates receive (course by course), and how much each hour effectively costs the student. With no variety in course prices, it is hard for British students to shop around in the UK. The government should give them the information to do so. |
| It also needs to recognise that the idea of charging students an interest rate of 3% over inflation from the moment they start their courses is simply unacceptable. It is unutterably depressing for hard-working students to see the amount they owe spiralling upwards, before they have even started paying it off. Ministers have not provided a justification for the 3% margin over inflation (equivalent to 5.75% over the current base rate!) because there is no justification for it. To have an agency of the government exploiting its monopoly position in this way is undermining the already fragile legitimacy of the student finance system. The chancellor should use his budget in the autumn to fix it. | It also needs to recognise that the idea of charging students an interest rate of 3% over inflation from the moment they start their courses is simply unacceptable. It is unutterably depressing for hard-working students to see the amount they owe spiralling upwards, before they have even started paying it off. Ministers have not provided a justification for the 3% margin over inflation (equivalent to 5.75% over the current base rate!) because there is no justification for it. To have an agency of the government exploiting its monopoly position in this way is undermining the already fragile legitimacy of the student finance system. The chancellor should use his budget in the autumn to fix it. |
| Our system of student finance is worth fixing. It has increased the money available to pay for university education, and enabled many more people to enjoy the benefit of it. It has led to an increase in the percentage of disadvantaged young people going to university; and the evidence shows that doing so has a positive impact on their future earnings. | Our system of student finance is worth fixing. It has increased the money available to pay for university education, and enabled many more people to enjoy the benefit of it. It has led to an increase in the percentage of disadvantaged young people going to university; and the evidence shows that doing so has a positive impact on their future earnings. |
| In the hung parliament that the British people bestowed on us at last month’s election, the sensible majority in the cross-party middle should work together to reform student loans to make them fairer, to challenge our universities to improve the service they offer or cut the price, and to reassure students – present and future – that our system of student finance has their best interests at heart. | In the hung parliament that the British people bestowed on us at last month’s election, the sensible majority in the cross-party middle should work together to reform student loans to make them fairer, to challenge our universities to improve the service they offer or cut the price, and to reassure students – present and future – that our system of student finance has their best interests at heart. |
| Tuition fees | Tuition fees |
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| Students | Students |
| Higher education | Higher education |
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