Student tuition fees to rise to up to £9,000 a year - have your say in our survey
STUDENTS could pay up to £9,000 a year in tuition fees from 2012 - three times the current amount, ministers confirmed today.
Universities Minister David Willetts announced proposals to raise the tuition fee cap to £6,000, with institutions able to charge up to £9,000 in "exceptional circumstances."
He told MPs: "We believe a limit is desirable and are therefore proposing a basic threshold of £6,000 per annum, in exceptional circumstances there would be an absolute limit of £9,000.
Students currently pay £3,290 per year in tuition fees.
No publicly-funded university will be able to charge more than £9,000 for undergraduate courses, Mr Willetts said.
Institutions who impose fees of more than £6,000 will have to take part in a £150 million National Scholarships scheme - a bid to ensure that poorer students are not priced out of higher education.
The National Union of Students has previously called plans to effectively treble tuition fees "dangerous", warning that there is a risk students will be unable to afford to attend England elite universities.
NUS president Aaron Porter said earlier today that they would also "saddle a generation with huge debts before they have even got on their bikes to find work".
In an oral statement, Mr Willetts told the Commons that the Government wanted to see universities offering scholarships to targeted students, which would mean their first year at university is free.
Institutions charging over £6,000 will also face new sanctions requiring them to offer outreach activities to attract poorer pupils, as well as financial support.
Universities that fail to make progress towards set targets on recruiting poorer pupils will see a proportion of their extra fee income diverted to outreach activities.
The higher education sector saw swingeing cuts to its public teaching budget announced in the spending review last month, and today’s proposals mean that in future the majority of universities’ teaching money will instead come through fees.
Mr Willetts said the proposals are a "good deal for universities and for students".
He added: "These proposals offer a thriving future for universities, with extra freedoms and less bureaucracy, and they ensure value for money and real choice for learners."
WE have created a special anonymous survey on this issue to find out what you really think. So if you're a parent, relative, current, ex or would-be student let us know your feelings by clicking onto the second page of this article and clicking on the link at the foot of it.
It'll take just a couple of seconds but will mean we know what people really think about this issue and can present a special story online and inprint with our results.
