Greens commit to free higher education

Manifesto sets out the party’s vision for universities.

Undergraduate tuition fees in England would be abolished, block grants reintroduced to universities, £2.2 billion of student maintenance grants created and existing student debts cancelled, the Green party has said. It would also seek to scrap postgraduate tuition fees, according to its manifesto, published today.

The abolition of undergraduate fees would cost £4.5 billion over the next Parliament, the party estimates. It would meet the cost by increasing corporation tax for larger companies to match the levels in other rich countries, which it says would generate sufficient revenue to cover the lost income and to generate £8 billion per year from 2015. Writing off the loan book would cost some £30 billion, the document says.