News
Vince Cable: some private universities ‘a lot of dross’
07 October 2014
Graeme Paton reports for the Telegraph on comments made by Vince Cable at the Sutton Trust/SMF fringe meeting at the Lib Dem conference.
An expansion of private universities has introduced “a lot of dross” into the higher education system, the Business Secretary has admitted.
Coalition reforms that allow students to claim taxpayer-backed loans to study at private colleges has led to an expansion of “cheap and cheerful courses”, said Vince Cable.
He said the rise in the number of places at alternative providers – including profit-making institutions – had also allowed “some immigration abuse” to take place.
The comments, made at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow, were seized upon by critics who warned that standards had been damaged by the expansion of higher education places.
According to figures, some £1 billion of state-backed funding will be awarded to students attending private universities and colleges this year following a significant growth in the number of institutions in recent years.
…
The comments – reported by Times Higher Education magazine – were made at a fringe meeting co-hosted by the Social Market Foundation think-tank and the Sutton Trust charity.
Read the full article here.
Media enquiries
If you're a journalist with a question about our work, get in touch with Sam or Rocky on the number below. The number is also monitored out of hours.
E: [email protected] T: 0204 536 4642