Theresa May announces review of costly university tuition fees
19-02-2018 08:40
Theresa May plans to review the cost of tuition fees for 2019 as part of the Government's 'value for money' initiative for British students after coming under pressure from the Labour party.
The prime minister has said British students face "one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world" and will announce a review of student fees on Monday.
May has said the system failed to deliver enough competition on price with almost all courses being charged a maximum of £9,250 per year.
The prime minister claims that the level of some of the fees charged does not relate to the cost or quality of the actual course and she has set a temporary freeze on fees at £9,250 until the review has taken place.
Education Secretary Damien Hinds has said that these changes could specifically affect the arts and social science degrees since they are the cheapest to fund and make the most money.
He said fees should be determined by "a combination of three things: the cost [to the university] to put it on, the benefit to the student and the benefit to our country and our economy".
The review could bring changes to the system like eliminating interest rates on student loans, increase in salary level at which students repay the loans and a decrease in the years the graduates are expected to repay the loan.
The new plans could also mean an increase in types of degree offerings like two-year degrees, sandwich courses (where students work in an industry one year between courses), and commuter courses where students can live at home to save money.
Although universities are generally opposed to these cuts in fees. Alistair Jarvis, the chief executive of Universities UK said, "A fees cut would grab the headlines but leave a funding gap. Unless government replaced the money, it would mean bigger class sizes, poorer facilities and less student choice."
The measures may have been triggered by the pressure May is facing from the Labour party that promised to abolish fees and bring back maintenance grants to aid students financially.
