This 'shifting' policy is set to apply to a group of young people who are currently visiting and choosing universities. They should be concentrating on studying for A levels and choosing the best course for them. They are in fact having to deal with a whole set of financial decisions, as I have pointed out earlier, some degrees may leave them financially worse off in the long term. The very least they might expect now is that a responsible government would have a clear set of figures for them. This is far from the case
1. OFFA only published all university tuition fees in mid-July. University open days were taking place without set fees.
2. The final white paper, with final details of fee payment, the loan interests and payback penalties is just published but still no details of early payback penalties. Oxbridge UCCAS deadlines are in October. The White Paper annex states that a Higher Education Bill will be brought before parliament in 2012 if parliamentary time can be found. This is the bill required to legislate for early repayment penalties. When 2012 applicants take out their loans will the decisions regarding how they pay them back even have been finalised, and will parliament have agreed to any of the detail in The White Paper?
3. On 28th June Mr. Willets promised to make the students loan investment well informed by insisting there be information on teaching quality and graduate pay prospects for all university courses for university applicants. The 2012 entry group are visiting and choosing universities now, this group is most vulnerable to these 'unknown waters'. These figures should be available now. The White Paper predicts Key Information Sets course by course will not be available until September 2012. A steering group is just proposed on how to inform applicants on how fees are used and spent.
4. What safeguards are in place to protect students who in good faith start a course in 2012 which is subsequently 'out competed' by a new institution and collapses 2-3 years on? Will the government give the student an automatic right to transfer to a new course or to have their loan written off?
27
5. OFFA's obligation is to make institutions with higher fees fund the widened access policy. In effect students fees are being used to offload the government's conscience on higher tuition fees for English students, this leads to a bizarre logic where students are paying even higher fees to make higher fees fairer
In search of how different institutions will apply this policy I have discovered a variety of interpretations, surely at the time of application students have a right to know what % of their fees goes to them, and what as a substitute for government funding for students from poorer homes. I am sure that in any other type of 'giving' this is required to be public information.
The 2012 entrants are the first group to pay such substantial sums for university education, they surely they have a right to be able to decide how much they wish to give away. Where is this information?
For any other marketed product of this value this lack of information would be a consumer protection issue.
2012 entrants are being asked to take part in a great experiment yet throughout their application process they are being constantly bombarded with policy statements, which appear and disappear. Chunks of this policy are being made up on the hoof. This is incompetent and unfair.
