Last month, on these pages, I wrote an open letter to Alan Johnson, putting the case for free education on behalf of the millions of students who will face crippling debt because of top-up fees. I reminded him, writes Gemma Tumelty, that "education does not just benefit the individual, it benefits society".
A splash across last week's papers reporting that tuition fees were partly responsible for the hike in inflation proved that the reverse of that maxim is also true: what is bad for students is bad for society as a whole. The huge increase in tuition fees that comes into effect this year will, by forcing students to borrow, only add to Britain's mountain of debt.
And, apart from the reduced spending power for "high-earning" graduates (if a median starting salary of £17,000 is considered "high" when offset with over £20,000 graduate debt), the mortgage and pension contributions that will elude graduates because of these higher interest rates will also elude poor sections of society.
Under the new fees regime, the dustman may no longer be paying for the doctor's degree with his taxes, but he will pay dearly because of the doctor's debts.
Media reports last week also confirmed that students are increasingly time-poor, because they are forced to work part-time when they could be studying. According to a Royal Bank of Scotland survey, one in five students works for more than 20 hours a week.
And the NUS can reveal that it is poorer students that do the longest hours (over two hours more per week on average by students from lower socioeconomic groups) and for less than their middle-class counterparts (£1.27 less on average).
This summer, report after report has provided us with ammunition against the incumbent system. With Ucas figures casting serious doubt over widening participation, Royal Bank of Scotland highlighting the unfair sacrifices students will have to make to make ends meet, and the Bank Of England warning of the wider economic fallout, clearly the system is on shaky ground.
The NUS is campaigning for free education as a "right" for all those who aspire to it and not just for those who can afford it, but we are also committed to a practical policy that is mindful of the way higher education impacts upon the wider community.
The stats are on our side -the government had better remind us all, and especially the thousands waiting on their A-levels results this Thursday, what evidence they have that this policy is fair, inclusive and will be for the 'greater good'.
