Universities policy chief urges government to celebrate rising tuition fees

As universities face a mounting financial crisis, a universities policy chief has urged ministers to “talk up the benefits” of England’s university funding system, claiming that “the tuition fee system is not broken” and should catch up with inflation.

England’s universities are struggling to sustain world-class education on a funding model designed nearly a decade ago. Although the tuition fee system is often presented as one of the most effective globally, policy experts believe that its long-term success is at risk if fees are not adjusted to inflation.

In a speech to a symposium on sector funding hosted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) think tank and the Council for the Defence of British Universities, HEPI director Nick Hillman was due to argue that it is time for policymakers to shift the narrative around tuition fees.

Instead of apologising for fee increases, he suggested that they should celebrate the achievements of the current funding model.

According to an advance copy of Hillman’s speech, seen by Times Higher Education, he notes that instead of the tuition fee system’s structure, a more fundamental issue behind the crisis is that once prices went up to £9,000 in 2012, they did not rise each year in line with inflation.

“If the government accept my basic line of argument that the current system is not broken, and that it just needs a polish, then ministers should get behind it”

Nick Hillman, HEPI director

Since then, only one change was made, when universities that passed the Teaching Excellence Framework were allowed to increase their fees to £9,250 in 2017. With final fees being frozen at that threshold, inflation has been consistently eroding the real value of these payments.

Today, as universities are facing financial strain, unable to keep up with rising operational costs, Hillman argues that student experience is at significant risk. In his speech, he was expected to advocate for an annual increase based on the Retail Price Index (RPI), plus 2% – a solution that ministers have tried to portray as “much more difficult than it really is”.

Hillman was due to conclude: “If the government accepts my basic line of argument that the current system is not broken, and that it just needs a polish, then ministers should get behind it.”