Students are becoming savvy consumers of their own education. And with increased commodification students will want "value for money" - and better contact time, improved teaching and other core services are clearly going to be vital to their concept of "value". So goes the argument that they will be willing to pay for it through increased fees.
This all sounds rather reasonable, writes Gemma Tumelty, president of the National Union of Students. But demanding value for money is a luxury for those who can already spend.
The fact is there are still unlucky students, not adequately represented by this rosy report, who would simply not be able to countenance paying the £6,800 suggested by the poll by Opinionpanel Research.
The research is rather crude because asking someone what they would pay isn't an exact indicator of what they will pay, or can pay.
What this report does show is that students do recognise the value of education. The higher education sector does need more money - but we think it should come from progressive taxation and prioritised spending on higher education and not the back pocket of students and their families.
One commentator seemed convinced that the threshold on fees would rise rather than be completely marketised. Though the NUS fears a free market in fees far more than this outcome, we are adamant that the impact on the introduction of fees on access and course selection needs to be rigorously analysed before there is any change to the current regime.
If fees are to be further marketised there is every indication that a two-tier system higher education will emerge. Do we really want a situation where research-intensive universities can charge extortionate fees, raking in the cash to raise their 'quality' further and only provide needs-blind support to a lucky few, while modern universities will be able to charge only minimal amounts to serve their main intake and so have their quality compromised through lack of resources?
The rich only get richer and the poor poorer in the worst marketplaces - and this is what we fear. Even if students are savvy about what education costs, it shouldn't cost them.
And an elite model of higher education shouldn't also cost modern universities - who have been excellent in widening participation.
