Election: behind the policies

by Veronika Leitner

It has been clear that higher education was not on top of the priority list of the three main political parties during this general election.

Some believe that, for the majority of voters, higher education policy could not compete with policies on the economy, immigration issues and frontline public services.

However, with threats of inflation in tuition fees, as well as student loan interest rates rumoured to be rising to 4.4 per cent, never before has politics been so important to the student body in the UK.

The most popular proposal amongst students came from the Liberal Democrats.

Scrapping student fees?

 Under the headline “A Fair Chance for Children”, the party proposed to phase out tuition fees over the next six years - a very expensive plan according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) - which estimates the costs to be about 1.8bn per year.

This means if students don’t pay for their education, the taxpayer will have to.

One could argue that those with higher qualifications will in the end contribute more to the whole economy and tax system.

Nonetheless, the Lib Dem’s plan leaves the initial massive bill with non-graduate citizens – and who guarantees that everyone who studies will later get a well-paid job?

Robert Shuttleworth, 22, an Illustration student, told Arts London News: “It has the feel of one of those promises they might not be able to keep.”

The IFS estimates that every £1 of student loans has to be matched by 33p of government funding to cover the real course costs.

This is mainly due to the generous loan conditions: students do not pay a lot of interest on their loans and if they are unable to reach the income gap of £15,000, they will be released of their debt after 25 years, leaving the government with all the costs.

Leaving the total expenditure with the government will increase the budget deficit further and is therefore absolutely impossible at a time when the European Commission forecasts the UK’s budget deficit to be worse than that of Greece.

Commercial research

The Labour Party’s manifesto only dedicated a little more than one page to universities, further education colleges and apprenticeships, acknowledging: “Higher education is fundamental to our national prosperity,” and  went on to list plans to get even more students into universities - especially those from lower income backgrounds.

Their aim was to fund 20,000 additional post-graduate places this year and to strengthen links between businesses and universities, as well as increasing funding for research in key economic growth sectors like science, technology and engineering.

It must be debated how these measures will change students’ lives as they are now, but with the planned spending cuts of £1bn in the public sector by 2013, it remains unclear how universities are supposed to provide places for more students.

The University College Union (UCU) has already set the dates for a ballot amongst its members at the University of the Arts (UAL: members who will decide whether or not to take industrial strike action against the planned cuts.

Fees information

The decision is expected to be announced shortly after 18 May.

The biggest let-down from a student’s point of view is the absence of information on tuition fees – particularly on the burning question on whether they are set to rise or not.

Universities generally argue that the current fee cap needs to be lifted in order to allow for improvements to be financed, but students are already struggling to pay off the immense debt they inherit when graduating.

At the moment, the cross-party Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance led by the former BP former chief executive Lord Browne is reconsidering students’ contribution towards the cost of higher education.

The results are due to be published this autumn, but according to the Sunday Times, fees might be raised by anything from £1,000 annually, to £14,000 per year.

The exact amount would depend on the university and subject chosen.

Early repayment bonus

The Conservative Party are planning to provide an extra 10,000 university places next year, financed via early repayments of student loans to a minimum of £500 each month.

This means whoever will be able to repay ahead of schedule will see their debt reduced by 10 per cent in return.

However, students are not convinced.

“To get a bonus when you pay your student loan back quick seems a bit silly,” said final-year London College of Communication student, Charlie Hocking.

Rachel Taylor, 21, a student at UAL said: “Especially because I’m doing an Arts course, I don’t think I can pay back quickly.”

The IFS shares this potential equality concern.

Only a fraction of students would be able to pay back £500 per month - even though taking up the offer, as opposed to paying back the income-orientated minimum rate - would benefit them, as they could reduce the total amount.

This would cost the taxpayer more in the long run, as the loan would not be paid back in full.

Wait and see

With the election results leaving the public and political parties alike baffled, we are simply left with more questions than answers on where Britain's hung parliament leaves the general public.

It is definitely very disappointing that the 2.5 million students in Britain were not directly addressed during this election, and we will have to wait and see whether this was the quiet before the Browne Review storm.

There are several indicators which point towards increasing costs for students, although whether this will translate into better quality teaching remains uncertain.