Academics Challenge Tuition Increases in Britain

Academics challenge British tuition increases

Hundreds of academics from Oxford and Cambridge have signed a letter to the British government demanding that the planned increase in tuition fees to £9,000 from £3,290 be halted and a public commission of inquiry be established to look into the plan.

“Universities are being forced to take major decisions, with unknown consequences, to a breakneck timetable,” said the letter, which was addressed to Business Secretary Vince Cable and Universities Minister David Willets.

“We are being asked to ‘fly blind’ over matters of the utmost importance in respect to our ability to continue to deliver world-class education and research,” said the letter, which was signed by 681 faculty members from Britain’s two oldest universities. 

A government paper setting out details of the new funding arrangement, which was expected in March, has been delayed, and Professor Peter de Bolla, one of the organizers of the letter, told the BBC that institutions were essentially being asked to set fees “in the dark,” without a clear understanding of the consequences of their decisions.