The Independent Review of Higher Education & Student Fiance in the UI report (also known as the Browne Review) was published.
The key recommendations are:
- a new system called the student finance plan. NO upfront costs, graduates will pay back their tuition once they start work and earn more than £21,000 a year (this is an increase on the current £15,000)
- the bottom 20% of earners would pay back less than they do today
- any balance remaining after 30 years is written off
- the threshold would rise in line with growth in earnings
- payments would be small – Browne says around 9% – for example someone on £25,000 would pay £7 per week
- if a graduate’s earnings fall, their payments fall or stop entirely if income falls below the threshold
- interest rates on loans are the same as the Government pays on its borrowing
The current cap on student fees, set at £3,290 per year, would be lifted.
- universities that charge more than £6,000 per year would have to pay a tapered levy designed to ensure that the most expensive universities contribute more to supporting the poorest students, for example though scholarships.
- universities that want to charge more would have to prove that they are improving teaching standards and operating a fair admissions policy
Annual loans available for cost of living whilst studying of £3,750. Additional support for families with an income below £60,000 is available, up to £3,250 in annual grants.
Part-time students would have the same access to tuition support as full-time students.
What did the Coalition Agreement say ….
- We will await Lord Browne’s final report into higher education funding, and will judge its proposals against the need to: increase social mobility; take into account the impact on student debt; ensure a properly funded university sector; improve the quality of teaching; advance scholarship; and attract a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- If the response of the Government to Lord Browne’s report is one that Liberal Democrats cannot accept, then arrangements will be made to enable Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain in any vote.
All Lib Dem MPs are conscious of the positions that we took on higher education and the policies we campaigned for at the last election. The test of any new scheme for organising and funding education and training for those over 16 must be whether we improve quality, increase opportunity for young people of all backgrounds and ensure a fair and progressive way of meeting the costs.