Back in March I asked a number of questions in response to a post on LibDemVoice about tuition fees. Today, Paul Walter writes a similar article but does a much, much better job of defending the position taken by the Liberal Democrat ministers and some MPs (let’s not forget that a significant number of the party’s MPs did vote against them being raised, in line with party policy and our manifesto commitments).
However, the same fundamental questions about higher education remain, and I repeat them again below.
If the university tuition fees regime introduced by the coalition:
- Turns out to have little or no beneficial effect on the amount that has to be paid out to HE institutions from general taxation, contrary to the expectations of the IFS in October 2012
- Discourages graduates from taking on the additional liabilities necessary to complete postgraduate courses
- Damages lifelong learning, part-time education and discourages mature students from seeking to fulfill their potential
- Means that the overall increase in the funding universities have received is perceived to have simply inflated vice-chancellor’s salaries rather than improved provision
- Remains toxic to the LibDem brand through the next general election and beyond
… will the marginal gains in the overall amount paid back over 30 years by the lowest-earning 27% of graduates – who by definition don’t know that they’re going to be in this position and certainly don’t plan to be while incurring their liabilities – have been worth it?