Students in the UK are paying the highest university tuition fees in the world, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Its annual state of the nation report on world education systems shows the £9,000 fees being charged at most universities means that – on average – the UK student is paying more than their counterpart in the United states.
Researchers acknowledged that the high cost of fees at the United states’ Ivy League universities could push its average higher but insisted that was still lower than the UK figure.
However, Andreas Schleicher, head of education of the OECD, argued that the UK system was “fair, efficient and likely to be sustainable”. Students do not have to pay any fees upfront – taking out loans to pay for their courses.
The figures in the report show that 19 per cent of the UK higher education system was funded by private sources compared to just 14 per cent on average for European countries. It is still far behind the US figure of 46 per cent.
Mr Schleicher said the UK government appeared to have made a “wise choice” in determining upin its present system. One of the spin offs was more money coming into higher education at a time of recession which had paid off in allowing them to pay higher salaries for professors.
Despite the high fees (the United States is in second place charging just over $8,000 dollars per students) take-up of university courses is high. Japan comes third in the table with fees of just over $5,000 dollars.
The findings come at a time when governments are considering allowing universities to charge higher fees. A government Green paper on higher education last month indicated that those with high quality teaching should be allowed to increase their fees in line with inflation.
However, student leaders are worried that – with the axeing of maintenance grants planned for next September – young people from disadvantaged backgrounds could be put off from applying fearing they would face rising debts.
The report said: “On the one hand, higher tuition fees increase the resources available to educational institutions, support their efforts to maintain quality academic programmes and develop new ones and can help institutions accommodate increases in student enrolment.
On the other hand, lower tuition fees can help to promote student access and equity in higher education, particularly amongst disadvantaged populations. However, they may also constrain the ability of teriary education to maintain an appropriate quality of education.”
