Students face decades of debt as fees rocket

John Roberts Education Correspondent

THE MOST radical shake-up of higher education funding the country has ever seen could leave students facing decades of debt as universities more than double their tuition fees.

A report welcomed by Ministers yesterday signals the end of universities being reliant on state funding as graduates are asked to pay for their education.

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The Browne Review has called for the 3,290 annual cap on tuition fees to be lifted to allow universities to set their own charges. Some institutions could charge as much as 12,000 a year for certain courses.

But huge cuts in funding due to be announced next week mean universities will have to make more revenue from fees.

Leeds University’s vice chancellor Prof Michael Arthur said that it would need to raise its fees to 7,000 “just to stand still”.

He said he expected the university to charge between 7,000 and 8,000 a year.

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The Chairman of Yorkshire Universities, Prof Phil Jones, who is also Sheffield Hallam’s vice chancellor, said that under the proposed system graduates earning 25,000 would only have to pay back 7 a week.

However students and lecturers warned that it will be “the final nail in the coffin for affordable higher education”.

The report could also cause problems for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as Lib Dems who campaigned for the abolition of tuition fees are now asked to back the plans.

Graduates facing 30,000 debt: Page 9. Opinion & Analysis: Page 13.

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