A RECENT opinion poll for the BBC revealed that the majority of universities favour increasing student fees, with one in 10 vice-chancellors wanting the freedom to charge whatever they like. However, the general public does not agree, and how the political parties position themselves in the great fees debate will influence voters at the next general election.
Two-thirds of British adults polled by YouGov for the University and College Union at the start of the academic year thought that going to university had become less attractive because of tuition fees. Three in five said they would be more inclined to vote for a political party that promised not to increase them.
According to the survey, only 16 per cent of British adults think the introduction of tuition fees has delivered a higher standard of education. Worryingly for Labour, more people said they believed the Conservative Party would do a better job looking after both students’ interests and British universities.
UCU has consistently opposed university fees because we do not believe asking voters to saddle themselves with thousands of pounds of debt is the best way to encourage people to consider university. Let’s not forget that despite record sums of money being spent on widening participation, there has been no real change in the proportion of students from the poorest backgrounds entering higher education.
Vice-chancellors ignoring the views of the public as they try to secure more cash by any means possible is not a new phenomenon. However, their position was not strengthened by the news, just days after the BBC poll, that their salaries had again increased by quite incredible amounts.
The Times Higher Education magazine’s annual survey of staff pay in higher education revealed that vice-chancellors’ average pay was £193,970, thanks to a 9 per cent pay rise between the academic years of 2006-07 and 2007-08. That’s almost double, in percentage terms, what they begrudgingly gave their staff as part of a three-year deal that we were told was at the brink of affordability.
The inflation-busting 9 per cent rise for those at the top has left more than 70 vice-chancellors with a salary higher than the Prime Minister and 63 of them earning more than £200,000. These salaries did not include generous pension contributions, which were worth, on average, an additional £26,129 – a considerable increase of 16 per cent on the previous year.
UCU was not alone in accusing university vice-chancellors of hypocrisy over pay and calls for student fees to be increased. The National Union of Students said it was “obscene for vice-chancellors to be lining their pockets with such huge pay increases while calling for students to be charged even higher fees”. Clearly, calls from vice-chancellors for higher student fees and restraints in staff pay look somewhat distasteful next to their own exorbitant increases.
UCU believes any rise in tuition fees would damage universities’ chances of attracting the best students onto the courses that most suit their individual talents. It is also just plain wrong to put huge financial barriers in the way of people’s access to higher education. We believe that education has the power to change people’s lives and should be the key driver behind any social mobility policies.
The Government has spoken at length about reconnecting with the public and we believe that fees is one area where it can do just that and reassure traditional Labour supporters it still has the best interests of ordinary people at its heart. Put simply, we know that people from poorer backgrounds will choose cheaper university courses; that is common sense and the uncomfortable reality. It is also why we must reject calls for fees to continue to rise. The Government should be seeking ways to open up university education, not price people out of potentially life-changing opportunities.
Sally Hunt is general secretary of the University and College Union
