PM suggests reform to the British higher education sector
The government could introduce new pricing mechanisms at British universities, which would lead to an increase in tuition fees for some humanities degrees.
Photo by Markus Clemens on Unsplash
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Boris Johnson has announced that the government will be reviewing the tuition fee limit set for university degrees. The prime minister has stated that the UK government is “looking very much at pricing mechanisms” after being asked for his opinion on the Australian government’s plans to double tuition fees for some humanities degrees in order to subsidise other subjects, such as maths and engineering.
UK and EU students are currently charged up to £9,250 annually for undergraduate degrees at English universities, while international students can expect to pay up to £28,000 per year, regardless of which subject they choose. These figures only constitute a tuition fee cap under current regulation and universities already have the option to charge a lower rate, although very few do.
The PM believes that the tuition fee limit has become the de facto standard as “no higher education institution felt that they could accept the loss of prestige associated with offering a course that was cheaper,” and that “it would have been much more sensible if courses had been differently priced.” Although the Sunday Telegraph claims that this “could see reductions in the cost of science and engineering degrees, with higher fees for some arts subjects,” it is unclear whether these are the prime minister’s specific recommendations.
As the government has not yet provided any further details regarding the PM's comments, University College London is currently unable to say how these reforms will affect its students.
However, these suggestions reflect recent comments made by the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson, who announced this week that financial support for struggling universities will be made available in the form of repayable loans, but on the condition of financial and academic restructuring. As part of the scheme, universities will have to promote degrees that ensure “strong graduate employment outcomes in areas of economic and societal importance,” whilst “public funding for courses that do not deliver for students will be reassured.”
The Department for Education (DfE) mentions STEM, nursing and teaching as examples of subjects that must be prioritised by universities accessing the scheme. Humanities and creative arts departments at struggling institutions could lose out, given that their graduates have lower projected earnings compared to graduates from medicine and economics. But the report states that other criteria will also be taken into account.
The scheme could encourage institutions “to focus upon the areas in which they are truly outstanding” or towards “a much greater reorientation towards the needs of the local and regional economy,” which the report specifies as “the provision of higher technical education, apprenticeships and part-time learning.” The restructuring plans will also require universities accessing the support scheme to prove that their future research will be of “direct and demonstrable value to the national economy or to the local and regional business community.”
In order to withstand future financial challenges, universities must also “strip back bureaucracy” by reducing “excessive levels of senior executive pay” and the “the rapid growth…of spending on administration.” Students’ union funding should be diverted from “niche activism and campaigns” towards “serving the needs of the wider student population,” although the DfE has yet to outline what this will mean in practice.
In line with the Conservatives’ 2019 general election manifesto commitment, the report also states that the “universities must demonstrate their commitment to academic freedom and free speech” in order to be eligible. In recent years, universities have been dogged by accusations that they are less tolerant of opposing ideas on campus, particularly after several speakers have been “no-platformed” — denied from speaking publicly at university conferences and debates.
This year, former Conservative Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s appearance at an International Women’s Day event at the University of Oxford was cancelled just 30 minutes before it was due to go ahead. The event’s organisers, United Women Oxford, had received criticism over Rudd’s connection to the Windrush Scandal leading up to the cancellation.
The reforms proposed by the prime minister and the secretary of education come amid signs that the university sector will undergo significant change within the next couple of years, as 13 universities risk entering negative reserves by 2024 and EU students are set to lose home fee status and access to student loans from the start of the 2021/22 academic year.