aelf
Ashen One
FT said:Cable warns universities on charging top fees
Vince Cable moved to stem the rush of universities seeking to charge maximum tuition fees, as the business secretary warned institutions on Wednesday that he would take places away from those trying to overcharge for courses.
Mr Cable, speaking at the annual conference of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, said the sector should “think carefully” about how much students will be charged for courses amid fears the £9,000 sum is becoming a default annual fee.
He warned universities that overcharging could leave them with insufficient students, which in turn could result in the government withdrawing places for some institutions.
But Mr Cable’s efforts to discourage universities from charging the maximum amount was met with disdain from opposition groups. Labour said Mr Cable’s “crude threats to universities” showed the policy was not working.
The University and College Union, the largest trade union and professional association for academics and lecturers, said “devastating” funding cuts had left universities with little choice but to increase fees well beyond the average of £7,500 that Mr Cable envisaged the majority of institutions would charge.
“Vince Cable was wrong at the time to suggest that a fee in excess of £6,000 would only be charged in exceptional circumstances. He is wrong now to suggest that universities or students should be punished for the government’s mistakes,” said the UCU.
Tim Leunig, chief economist at the CentreForum think-tank, said: “We welcome the fact the government is taking value for money seriously, but a credible plan to make universities change their behaviour needs to be more explicit than this.”
Mr Cable said last year he expected universities to charge the maximum £9,000 in fees in only “exceptional circumstances”.
But this week, the University of Central Lancashire joined the likes of Aston, Bath and Warwick as it declared it would be charging the top rate from 2012.
The upswing in fees is politically embarrassing for the government, which promised students they could expect to pay less under the new scheme.
It will also prove costly, since more expensive courses will increase the cost of providing student loans beyond the levels the government has budgeted for, which in turn could force it to start cutting university places.
Mr Cable warned universities on Wednesday that the “biggest mistake” they could make was “to underestimate its consumers”.
“Under the new principle whereby funding follows student choices, some institutions could very well find themselves in trouble if students can’t see value,” he said. “That trouble would only intensify as those institutions who prove themselves capable of attracting students and keen to expand their provision are given the opportunities to do so.”
Source
I bet lots of people are now saying "Told you so."
The coalition government is a joke. They take away funding, define an upper limit and expect universities to price well below this limit. Really? Did they "underestimate" what they are doing? And can we expect more scandals like what happened with the LSE and Libya?
Charged debate
Tuition fees of £9,000
Aston, Birmingham, Cambridge, Durham, Exeter, Imperial College, Lancaster, Leeds,  Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores, Manchester, Oxford, Reading, Royal Agricultural College, Surrey, Sussex, UCL, University of Central Lancashire, Warwick.
Less than £9,000
Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln (£7,500), Coventry (£4,600-£9,000), Derby (£6,995-£7,995), Leeds Met (£8,500), London Met (average of £6,000-£7,000), London South Bank (£8,450), Portsmouth, (£8,500), St Mary’s University College (£8,000), University Campus Suffolk (£7,500-£8,000).
Russell Group universities are bolded. Some are missing from this list, but any surprise that none are in the lower category?
EDIT: Sorry, link doesn't work properly. If you want to see the full article, go to FT or search it.