Fee-free option on the table in the UK

ALLOWING students to opt out of paying university tuition fees is just one of the proposals being considered by the British government as it struggles to fund the cash-strapped sector.

It is also understood that plans are being drawn up to expand the number of university places by 10,000 to avoid thousands of qualified applicants being turned away and ending up on the dole.

The new minister for universities, Peter Mandelson, is believed to have approached the Treasury to fund the extra places, fearing that up to 40,000 people could miss out.

Many are older people who have lost their jobs and are trying to retrain.

Ministers are considering plans to drop tuition fees for some students who live with their parents while they study. They would also have to waive their rights to grants and loans.

A department for business, innovation and skills spokesman told the HES late last week that a number of measures were being looked at by the government as part of a new framework for higher education that would be published in the autumn.

The department refused to be drawn on the detail.

"We will publish the framework later this year and, as part of this, we are considering a number of measures to increase access to higher education and maintain our sector's world-class status," he said.

Ahead of its publication any discussions of the proposals it will contain are purely speculative.

Universities will be able to charge fees of pound stg. 3225 ($6670) next academic year and, under existing rules, students can claim a loan to help cover the cost of tuition fees and living expenses. Loans begin to be repaid when graduates earn more than pound stg. 15,000.

The University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, said the proposals in the draft framework were confused and risked widening the gulf between the haves and have-nots.

"Tinkering with a failing system, or giving with one hand and taking away with the other, is not the way to solve higher education's problems," she said.

"We need a wholesale review of student and university funding, and the government must refrain from kicking the promised fees review into touch until after a general election."

The BIS spokesman said the government was committed to expanding opportunities for young people and supporting them through the recession.

"There are record numbers of students currently in higher education, 300,000 more than in 1997. And this year we expect that there will be 40,000 more accepted applicants than just three years ago," he said.

"Students who get the grades to meet their offer will secure a place at university this summer, but we will continue to work with the sector to support those who do not and to manage increased demand."

The HES has been told by top education bureaucrats in the north of England that Universities UK has been asked by the minister to think of ways to expand the number of student places. However, with no guarantee of extra funding some vice-chancellors were expected to be less than helpful.

"They (the ministers) could remove the cap on numbers, but what's the point if there's no extra money," posed the senior academic, who asked not to be named.

"And as the Guardian said, they could lift the threat to fine universities that over-recruit.

"But, again, what's the point if we can't afford to pay the staff to teach them? That compromises the experience of all students, those from home and overseas."
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16/07/5009