Students’ face more money worries as the Government look to increase the amount we pay for our education

As if university tuition fees weren’t already expensive enough, the government is considering a dramatic increase from the current average of £3,225 to more than double that figure, seeing the cost of further education reach an all-time high of £7,000 per year.

A recent BBC survey found that two thirds of UK university vice-chancellors feel it necessary to increase yearly tuition fees in a bid to meet the rising expectations of students, with a call for a minimum payment of £5,000 and the removal of the present maximum cap of £3,500, allowing them to charge whatever they want. If these changes are brought into play, over a million undergraduate students will be effected, and could be left with debts of around £32,000.

Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, expressed his anger at the proposal, arguing that “In the context of the current recession, it is extremely arrogant for university vice-chancellors to be fantasising about charging students even higher fees and plunging them into so much more debt.” However, despite such a drastic increase, the majority of vice-chancellors believe prospective students would not be deterred if the new fees were to be implemented. Yet a recent lobby on the House of Commons by protesting students proved otherwise, with the vast majority of students strongly against the idea.

Further research has proved that the group the Government most wants to target are also most likely to be put off by such drastic costs, with applicants from poorer backgrounds deciding against University due to the prospect of graduating with significantly increased levels of debt.

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