Tuition fees must be higher, according to the University of York.
In a statement the University has explained: “The current level of Government funding and the fees paid by UK students do not meet the cost of the high quality education that universities provide.”
This follows the recent release of a report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which said that students should be paying bigger interest rates on loans and accept a rise in tuition fees as “inevitable.” Currently there is a cap on tuition fees of £3,225 a year. The government subsidiSes the cost of student loans, keeping interest rates paid by students low.
The business leaders’ proposals have been welcomed by the 1994 group of universities, of which York is a member. 1994 Group Executive Director Paul Marshall said that higher fees and heavier interest rates are the only way that universities will be able to avoid a “valley of death” over the coming years. However, York, the most socially-diverse of the UK’s top ten universities, has insisted that safeguards such as means tested grants must remain. “No-one able to benefit from a university education should be denied the opportunity for financial reasons,” said a spokesman for the University.
NUS president Wes Streeting has hit back at “the fat cats at the CBI”, labeling their recommendations “a gross hypocrisy”.
“At a time of economic crisis, when many hard-working families are struggling to support their offspring through university, I am astonished that the CBI should be making such offensive recommendations”, he said.
YUSU have meetings with the University lined up over the coming weeks to discuss the issue of tuition fees.