News
British university fees more expensive than US on average
24 November 2015
Gonzalo Vina reported the Sutton Trust’s reaction to the OECD report showing England’s high tuition fees
Britain has the world’s most expensive university tuition fees, surpassing the average in the US, which was long thought to have the costliest college education.
While student fees can be higher at many ivy league and other top colleges, the £9,000 annual charge for attending an English institution pushed the British average above the US, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
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The Sutton Trust, a group that campaigns for social mobility, said that while high fees had not deterred young students from poor backgrounds going to university, they had caused a big fall in the number of part-time students.
There are also concerns that more changes could limit access to higher education. The government is considering steps to allow top universities to increase fees if they are judged to offer higher future earnings and better teaching. A study last week showed that government proposals could see loan repayments for postgraduate degrees push up marginal tax rates for graduates to as high as 60 per cent.
“These figures should cause the government to avoid steps that could hamper access, including replacing grants for poorer students with loans, leaving them more indebted than richer students; cutting widening participation funding; or reducing the independence of the access regulator,” said Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust.
Read his full report here (£)
The Sutton Trust response was also covered by BBC News, The Guardian and Telegraph.
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