UCU urges Labour to make clear HE tuition fee policies

The University and College Union (UCU) have urged the Labour Party to reveal their policies regarding University funding and tuition fees.

Labour have been throwing around the idea of reducing the current fee cap of £9,000 to £6,000 since 2011, and with the general election drawing ever closer the UCU are pressuring Labour to finally reveal their stance on the issue.

The UCU believes that higher education should be free and paid for through the hypothetical Business Education Tax (BET), whereby profits from some of the largest UK companies are collected through corporation tax and given to higher education establishments.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “If we are to ensure that everyone who would benefit from higher education is able to attend, we need to follow Germany’s example and make tuition free.”

Although Labour have never mentioned intending to scrap tuition fees, last year Douglas Alexander MP confirmed that they may reduce them to £6,000 per year. It is expected that Ed Miliband will reveal his plans for University funding by Friday 27 February.

However some Labour Party politicians have argued against pledging to reduce tuition fees ahead of the election.

Peter Mandelson MP warned: “Any solution that leaves universities less funded than they are at the moment is not the right solution”.

Peter Dunn, speaking on behalf of Warwick University said: “Whatever the fee level… our focus would be on ensuring that the overall funding mechanism for universities continues to provide sufficient funding to sustain the quality of education that we provide to students.”

There are a mixture of opinions among students here at Warwick University about the level of tuition fees and cost of university. Rickesh Bedia, a second-year Maths student believes: “university tuition fees are too expensive. There has been no information given out by the university as to how they are spending the extra £6000 they receive per person”.

Mr Bedia went on to say: “a university is providing a service and you should have to pay for it. I’m not sure how much but I guess that a better way could be to calculate by course rather than university, for example, depending on the salaries of the graduates”.

However, Charles Macdonald, a final year Film and Literature student thinks tuition fees should be drastically reduced or scrapped altogether: “9 grand is insane … Just find the money through tax, or just close loop-holes.

“[£9,000 tuition fees] was a short-term way to balance the books, but isn’t saving them money long-term in that too many people won’t be able to pay the loans back. It seems fine here because so many people get high-paying jobs, but people at really badly-ranked unis with worse employment stats have the same levels of debt”.