Why they will still come

The promise of cheaper tuition fees won’t knock recruitment this autumn, writes Matthew Andrews.

The current tuition fee policy in England manages to please no one. Full-time undergraduates reckon they are paying more than any of their predecessors but getting no more in return for their tripled fees. Universities remain anxious about the continued cap of £9,000 that effectively reduces real income each year by inflation and which was, in any case, little more than compensation for the near-eradication of the teaching grant. Tax payers fear their pockets will be hit as they are forced to carry the debts of students who fail to repay their loans. And although the debts of many students will be forgiven, the government gets no political benefit for the enormous public subsidy the current system requires. The Liberal Democrats paid a great price for their role in the introduction of the fee regime in 2012–and many still expect Nick Clegg’s party to suffer at the general election because of it. For a policy so universally derided and dripping in the pejorative language of “fees” and “loans” and “debts” and “burdens”, it would seem that it should be not only ripe for dismantling but whoever brought it down would gain significant kudos.

Yet Labour has dithered over its long-trailed plan to slice £3,000 per year from the maximum fee. Seemingly after interminable internal debate, Ed Miliband finally pledged on Friday that a Labour government would lower fees to £6,000 and raise maintenance grants by £400. "The government has designed a system which is burdening students with debt today and set to weight down the taxpayer with more debt tomorrow,” he warned before announcing that Labour would pay for the fee cut by reducing tax relief on pension contributions for those earning over £150,000 per year.