Elliot Jebreel: For the sake of our children, we should fight this increase

If universities were to increase tuition fees to 7,000, 10,000 or even 12,000 a year, the debt faced by graduates will soar. This prompts questions for us all of, how much debt is your degree worth? Will this price out students from university? Who will be able to afford university?

A survey we conducted shows that the majority of students don't think their degree is worth the 3,290 they pay at the moment – especially those that have only four contact hours a week, have lecturers that care more about research than teaching and have libraries that close at 5pm on a Friday.

Looking at the history of tuition fees, there has been no visible increase in quality, satisfaction or graduate prospects. How can a case be made for higher fees when the only impact on students would be a higher amount of debt?

We need to remember that the Browne Review is only a report; any change to tuition fees needs to go through government.

As a party, all the Lib Dem MPs, including Nick Clegg and Vince Cable, signed pledges during the election that they would vote against any rise in tuition fees, a promise that they seem happy to shatter. I want to take this opportunity to remind all the Lib Dem MPs the promise they have made, and to follow in the lead of the Lib Dems keeping their word – MPs such as Leeds North West's Greg Mulholland – to vote against any increase.

Between Lord Browne's suggestion that future university students should be burdened with thousands of pounds more debt – and the coalition Government's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) that is likely to drastically slash funding for higher education (HE) by 25 per cent or more – we are undoubtedly in a massive time of change. To fully understand the damage that will be caused by these two significant events coinciding, and the resulting situation where universities can charge whatever they want, we must look at the context in which HE funding sits.

The first time England saw an introduction of tuition fees for university students was in 1999. This was 1,000 per year, to be paid up front, while the Government also increased the amount of funding they dedicated to universities.

Before 1999, undergraduate degrees for British students were free, and many students received government grants for their time at university. In 2006, the Labour government introduced "top-up fees", which brought us to the current amount paid by students of 3,290 per year.

With the introduction of the 3,000 fees, a review of HE funding was also put into motion, which is now the infamous Browne Review.

Alongside the above fees, the UK has got one of the lowest national funding levels into HE out of the developed nations (including the US), with a corresponding low percentage of graduates – a situation that won't be helped by higher fees. When speaking about the current fees paid by students, it is assumed that all students need to do is to pay 3,000 a year and nothing more for their time at university.

There are, however, many other costs. For one, no course is without "hidden" extra costs.

These might be photocopying costs or key texts that must be bought while on many others there are field trips. On top of those hidden costs are the basics – rent, food and bills for the year. To help out with these costs, the Government provides what is known as a "maintenance loan" for all students.

However, what seemed to be a large amount of money for the average student when receiving this in first year, will in most cases, barely cover the cost of rent (last year the average maintenance loan was 3,610). That's where, for the regular student, government help ends. That means, for all those hidden course costs, food, and anything else, students have to find a way to fund themselves through university.

For the lucky, this means turning to mum and dad to help fund their three-year stint at university. For a large proportion of other students, this means holding down at least one part-time job, just to be able to afford university, while for those on courses with full timetables, there's no time to work.

For the sake of our children and our siblings, we need to fight against any rise in tuition fees, as we're also the ones that this will affect, having to support them through their times at university and helping them to deal with their debt afterwards.

Elliot Jebreel is the Students Union education officer at the University of Leeds.