Prospective students across the country will be forced to put extra pressure on their budgets after the government announced last week that tuition fees would rise to up to £9,000.
The coalition government announced last Wednesday that from 2012, fees would be set at a £6,000 limit, although universities will also be given the freedom to set fees at up to £9,000 if they can prove that they are ensuring access for the poorest students. As a result sources have informed Vision that the University of York is likely to set its fees at the higher level of £9,000.
Critics have argued that the new proposals are likely to create a two-tier system of university education, with the top quality institutions likely to charge the highest fees and those lower down the league table to possibly market their courses as bargain degrees. This would disadvantage those from poorer backgrounds who may be forced into accepting a lower quality degree with lower employment prospects.
In addition to the added burden on students, the new proposals are also likely to cause tensions within the coalition government, with the Liberal Democrats traditionally opposed to an increase in tuition fees.
This long expected move comes in the wake of the Browne review of university funding, the results of which were announced last month. Lord Browne concluded that the current cap of £3,290 should be scrapped and universities given more freedom to charge what they wish. At the same time, Browne recommended that the minimum salary level at which fees need to be repaid should be increased from £15,000 to £21,000.
York students will descend on London tomorrow as part of a national demonstration of students to protest against education cuts. YUSU has offered 150 free places on coaches to the capital, as well as extra places at £13. Students from the University of York now make up a quarter of the contingent of demonstrators from across Yorkshire and the Humber.
The demonstration, organised by the NUS, and the University and College Union (UCU), will see thousands of students from across the country join together to show the government their opposition to the hike in fees.