INSIDE:michael mcintyre/HBO’S GIRLS/SPECTOR/the leadmill/bloo 88/s.l.u.g.s/star wars
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The independent student newspaper of the University of Sheffield. Est. 1946.
Issue 52 Friday November 2 2012 @ForgePress /ForgePress
Fuse review:
Skyfall, and the best ever Bond themes, p.8-9
Sport meet:
The Sheffield student set to be the next Ennis, p.28
Comment talk: Is Romney the better choice for the US? p.8
Missing millions 4Shortfall of 600 students will leave the University millions out of pocket
4Government ‘meddling’ could spell disaster for higher education sector
Alisha Rouse The government’s “ill-conceived meddling” in university funding has left the higher education sector in disarray, with our own University set to lose millions of pounds. Forge Press can reveal that quotas introduced by the government have led to 600 fewer admissions at the University of Sheffield, and many other higher education institutions have been hit. This could cost the University substantially, with millions of pounds being lost in fees, which Union officers fear may result in cuts to outreach and retention. Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, said that the drop could cost Russell Group universities £80 million.
Many more universities are charging the full £9,000 than the government expected. With graduate earnings projected to decrease, the repayments to student loans will fall, causing the government’s costs to soar. There are also fears that the government’s miscalculation will result in the dismantling of parts of the higher education sector that don’t produce high-earning graduates, leaving humanities courses and ex-polytechnics at risk. The government could also renegotiate student loan repayments, ending the 30-year cap. The government aimed to gain £1 billion from tripling fees, when in fact the cost of subsidising loans for the fees may amount to as much as £680 million, leaving
a £1.6 billion gap between expectations and reality. Richard Alderman, Students’ Union education officer, said: “The government have got their sums wrong” and went on to express his fear that outreach and retention programs could suffer. The situation has also been criticised by Sheffield Central MP, Paul Blomfield, who told Forge Press: “Students and universities are paying the price of this government’s ill-conceived meddling with our higher education system.” Many of the problems are to do with universities’ RAB (Resource Accounting and Budgeting) charge, which is how much money loaned to students the government do not expect to
be paid back. The government initially expected the RAB shortfall to be around 30 per cent, but Alderman said current levels are as much as 32 per cent, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimate this figure to be closer to 37 per cent. When the government lifted the cap on tuition fees, they expected competition between universities to drive down fee levels for most universities, with £9,000 being the exception, rather than the rule. When it became clear that was not the case, the government came up with a plan to intervene with admissions, discouraging universities from charging £9,000. This plan, designed to allow the government to keep on top of the cost of student loans,
has resulted in the University of Sheffield being unable to fill all of its undergraduate places. The University has seen a fall of more than 600 undergraduate students this academic year. A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: “For the academic year 2012/13 there are about 600 fewer home undergraduate students than the University originally planned for. “Recruitment figures for all undergraduate students are not finalised until December 1. “It is not known by how much, or even if, this will impact on what is available for outreach and recruitment until the University receives the final figure for what will be spent on bursaries.” Continued on p.4