Funding for Higher Education in the U.K.

That funding for higher education in the United Kingdom is set to change is beyond dispute. The debate over top-up fees and variable tuition has entangled the Tony Blair government since its inception and has dominated headlines throughout the UK with increasing frequency in recent years. One reason for this is that UK universities are in budgetary crisis: a funding shortfall at the university level reached 8 billion pounds in 2004, degrading campus facilities for students and researchers alike (Blair). Another reason is simply that the introduction of variable tuition fees in higher education is itself an untested premise. The effect that variable tuition fees will have on educational opportunity for the masses is contentious precisely because that effect is as yet unknown. For this, speculation concerning whether or not variable tuition fees can square with prevailing conceptions of social justice and fair opportunity is rife. A critical examination of this issue has never been more prudent or indeed more crucial than it is now.

On the assumption that money was desperately needed to finance the expansion of the higher education system, tuition fees were introduced by Blair's Labour government shortly after it was elected (The Economist 60). As Tony Blair summarized in a speech earlier this year, the higher education proposals put forth by Labour envisage a 'new partnership between the government and the student who benefits directly, who will make a fair contribut

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even if the 2 pound pints are not nearly as tasty. In this scenario, the fear of a big tab will consign the poorer drinker to the more run-down pub, while the wealthy drinker, not bothered by the increase, will happily run up a higher tab at the chic 3 pound pint establishment. So two pubs emerge, a rich pub and a poor pub, with distinct clienteles patronizing each. Debt-aversion becomes the common denominator. Where fear of debt is high among those of limited means, hunting for a bargain becomes the smart play. Where fear of debt is low among those of limitless means, hunting for quality becomes the smart play. How likely is this scenario at the university level? Opponents of the variable tuition scheme would argue that the above is more than likely it is inevitable. To begin, it is anticipated that the financial gulf between the richest and poorest universities will surely widen; this assertion, backed by credit analysts reporting for Standard and Poor's, highlights the fact that: 'with the introduction of top-up fees, well-established and financially secure institutions which attract lots of students are likely to become more secure while those institutions that struggle to fill places will find it harder to raise pr

Category: Foreign - F