Tuition fees price middle-class students out of University

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Official figures show a downturn in the numbers going to university

Middle-class students are being priced out of university by new tuition fees, figures revealed

Pupils from better-off families have been hardest hit by the tripling of tuition charges which threatens to leave them with crippling £20,000 debts.

As many as 10,000 middle-class youngsters were deterred from going to university this summer by the prospect of paying £3,000-a-year tuition fees on top of living expenses.

Experts said many may have decided a university degree is not worth the financial sacrifice.

They said middle-income families have been worst affected by the new fees regime because they fail to qualify for Government grants and university bursaries intended to offset the rise in annual charges from £1,175-a-year to £3,000.

The figures reignited the bitter row over the Government's controversial fees shake-up which came into effect this term.

The reforms proved one of the most hotly-contested of Tony Blair's premiership, only reaching the statute book after the Prime Minister overcame two knife-edge Commons votes.

Official figures are showing an unprecedented downturn in the numbers going to university from all social classes following the imposition of "top-up" tuition fees.

The number of English students accepted onto degree courses slumped 4.5 per cent to 287,739.

But the headline figure masked variations across social groups.

Numbers of middle-class students at university were shown to have declined more sharply than poor students since more than 90 per cent of universities hiked their charges to £3,000-a-year.

The trend emerged as a Government-funded study urged universities to offer places to "disadvantaged" students with exam grades lower than minimum course requirements.

The research, compiled by Leeds University, raised the prospect of a resurgence in "social engineering" in university admissions where deserving applicants are sidelined in favour of pupils with inferior qualifications.

Growing numbers of universities already make allowances for candidates' backgrounds but the latest report says they should consider lowering their entry requirements at least two grades.

Now "indicative" figures issued by the Department for Education and Skills are showing that students from low-income groups claimed 31.7 per cent of places this autumn, against 31.4 per cent last year.

While their numbers still fell overall, the rate of decline was slower than among higher-income groups.

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell said opponents of the Government's fee reforms had claimed low-income students would be particularly hard-hit.

"Well, that isn't happening" he said. "In fact, there is a slight increase in the proportion of students entering university from these backgrounds."

The figures suggest entrants from higher income groups have fallen around 10,000 on last year, against some 3,000 for the poorest students.

The breakdown prompted attention to shift last night to the hardships faced by middle-class families who just miss out on financial aid.

The tuition fee reforms were designed to have minimal net effect on the poorest students while the debts of the better-off are set to double.

Ministers have admitted debts could be £21,000 and take 15 years to pay back.

Students whose parents earn £17,500 or less qualify for Government grants of £2,700 to offset the £3,000 fee. Universities are expected to cover the remaining £300 but many have pledged more.

Household income of £17,501 to £37,425 warrants a partial Government grant.

No student has to pay fees "upfront" at the start of the courses any longer and can wait until they are earning £15,000 to repay special zero-interest rate loans to cover the charges.

But opponents of the regime are concerned that graduates now face a debt millstone at a time when they are contemplating buying their first properties, starting a family or contributing to a pension scheme.

Analysts who have conducted detailed research on the impact of tuition fees said hard-working, aspirational families were being worst-hit.

David Roberts, managing director of the Knowledge Partnership think-tank, said: "The people who are above the threshold for support and are not living at the end of long gravelly drives are the people who are going to feel this is like an extra tax.

"Those from the most well-off families may think £3,000-a-year is a pretty good bargain, while those from less well-off backgrounds will be eligible for support.

"Those in neither group - professional families who may be social workers, nurses or teachers and who value education - are not going to be able to support their kids very well financially.

"They are going to feel a bit brassed off. Yet again they are caught in this gap - they don't get any benefits from the welfare system but are not well-off enough not to care.

"They are caught in the middle and they feel resentment.

"They will encourage their kids to look very closely at higher education."

Mr Rammell yesterday appeared to rule out any adjustment of the sliding scale on which grants are calculated to assist families who receive little help or just miss out.

"This new system is a better system for all students from all backgrounds" he said.

But Mr Roberts said: "The Government seems to be institutionalising quite serious debt and saying it's a good thing.

"There's no doubt parents are far more worried about debt in the long-term than young people themselves."

National Union of Students president Gemma Tumelty said: "The figures have confirmed our suspicions - that top-up fees are having an effect on some students' choices, deterring some from going to university altogether."

She said the problem would intensify if ministers lift the £3,000-a-year cap, as many elite universities are lobbying them to do.

"In that eventuality, an education system could easily be envisaged where some students could afford the best, some would be forced to make do with the rest, and some could afford nothing at all."

At the same time, a new report is encouraging admissions tutors to make allowances for sixth formers from low-income families or from poor-performing schools, according to the Times Higher Education Supplement.

It says some tutors "will in some circumstances give (university applicants) larger reductions than 40 (UCAS) points". This is the difference between a C and an A grade at A-level in one subject.

Figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service showed that higher tuition fees appear to have deterred thousands from studying arts subjects and so-called "Mickey Mouse" degrees.

The numbers reading English, history, philosophy, classics, music and fine art have slumped since universities hiked their fees to £3,000-a-year.

The trend also hit media studies, where acceptances are down 8.1 per cent.

Meanwhile the gender gap in the race for degrees is at its widest ever, with women now claiming 54 per cent of first-year places.

Mr Rammell added: "Although this autumn we are seeing a small decrease - 4.5 per cent - in university entrants, this comes on the back of a larger than usual increase - 8.9 per cent - in those entering last year.

"Compared to 2004, numbers are up by 12,000, or 4.3 per cent."

 

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