Posts Tagged ‘Policy Exchange’

An education think-tank has called for the creation of a “market” for education and for lifting the cap on tuition fees to allow universities to charge at least £5,000 per year – prompting an angry reaction from those who say recent strides made in participation would be reversed.

Right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange, whose free-market policy recommendations have previously been favoured by the Conservative party, released a report entitled ‘More fees please?’ on February 11th arguing that: “fees will need to rise…if we are to protect and improve the student experience, and retain Britain’s position as a global leader in higher education.”

The report urges the government to “make its first move on fees a bold one”, claiming that “if the cap is set at £5,000 or lower…the majority of institutions will charge the maximum fee and no market will be activated.”

But critics have spoken out against the notion that variable fees and a market for education – which could see price tags for different degrees and different universities vary – is desirable. The University and College Union (UCU), which represents lecturers, said that forcing students to foot the bill to compensate for the £449m public spending cuts announced by the government was a “lazy” option.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “Has the Policy Exchange really exhausted all the possibilities here or has it decided it wants higher fees for students and written a report to attempt to justify that position?

“Lord Dearing’s landmark report at the end of the last century said we needed to look at the balance between who pays for higher education – the state, the student and business. This Policy Exchange report ignores the possibility of the state contributing more, as it is in countries like America, France and Germany as part of fiscal stimuli packages, and completely lets business off the hook. We do not believe handing individual debts of tens of thousands of pounds to the next generation of students makes economic sense, nor do we believe that the most expensive university fees in the world will encourage the brightest people from the poorest backgrounds to apply to university.”

Meanwhile Wes Streeting, President of the National Union of Students (NUS) warned that a market in higher education would be “disastrous for students and their families”.

He said: “We cannot allow a rise in fees to expose students and their families to the risks, mistakes and potential calamities of the market. Such a market would reinforce social and economic privilege, and price poorer students out of the most prestigious universities.”

Policy Exchange presented their proposals to the government commissioned review into higher education funding headed by Lord Browne that will report back after the general election.

They also recommended that  wealthy students should be offered loans from a regulated private scheme at a lower than commercial rate of interest, and that middle-class parents should use their property as collateral against student loan.

London Student has discovered that right-wing think tank Policy Exchange is set to advise David Cameron to free Russell Group Universities from state control – establishing a British ‘Ivy League’. Read the rest of this entry »