Higher tuition fees for elite UK universities proposed

Oxford University vice-chancellor Andrew Hamilton has proposed that elite universities should be able to charge their students £7,000 more for tuition than is already the case.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Professor Hamilton asserted: “fees should be more closely related to the true cost” of educating a student, claiming that an average Oxford education costs £16,000 per year.

Peter Dunn, the University of Warwick’s head of communications, told the Boar he recognised that as a university consistently ranked in the top ten of every university league table, Warwick qualifies as “academically elite”.

However, Mr Dunn also stated: “We do not envisage any such change in national fees policy at this time by this or any other likely government following the next election.”

Whether or not the University of Warwick will choose to align its viewpoint with the Russell Group remains to be seen.

His viewpoint gained the support of the Russell Group. Dr Wendy Piatt, Russell Group director general, told Newsnight: “We need to make sure our leading universities have enough money to compete with universities in the US, in Asia, in Brazil, in Australia; they have more resources than we do.”

The issue of raising tuition fees undeniably hits a raw nerve among prospective and current students alike.

Jess Payne, a first-year English and Latin Literature student, is concerned that such a dramatic fee increase would affect prospective students’ university choices.

Miss Payne commented: “The original tuition fee rise was a lot to start with, and if the student loan system didn’t work the way it does then I definitely wouldn’t have been able to come to university.

“If the fees increased to £16,000 then I probably would have considered a completely different university, because that’s nearly double what we have to pay at the moment.”

Miss Payne’s response echoes the worries of many students who have felt the impact of increased university fees.

Yet second-year MORSE student Matthew Jones admits: “Ultimately someone has to pay for the resources you use, and in the end I think people will have to pay any price to go because without a degree all the ‘good’ jobs are off-limits.

“I don’t think we should have to pay the entire cost though, because the government, economy and top firms benefit from us being well-educated. So if anything, they should fund us at least somewhat.”

After the initial tuition fee increase in 2010, extremely high-profile student protests organised by the National Union of Students and the University and College Union saw a turnout of more than 30,000 students in central London.

Similar responses may be expected in the case of a tuition fee rise of this size.