CRISIS UNENDING: THE DEATH OF SYRIA | A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME | THE REAL WAR BEGINS
TheBeaver
05.02.2013
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union FREE
‘RAISE FEES!’ Liam Brown
In a surprising backtrack, the London School of Economics Academic Board has made a recommendation to LSE Council to order a raise in tuition fees from ÂŁ8500 per academic year to ÂŁ9000. The vote was tallied 76 in favour, 2 abstentions, 33 opposed with all student representatives reportedly voting against the increase. The move is being criticised by the LSE Students’ Union, with General Secretary Alex Peters-Day commenting in a statement to the press, “With over 100 VWDŕŽ‰ DW /6( HDUQLQJ DW OHDVW ÂŁ100,000 and a surplus of nearly ÂŁ20 million in the last UHSRUWHG ன QDQFLDO \HDU LW LV somewhat surprising that the School is even considering to raise fees.â€? ‍ڔ‏7KH DGGLWLRQDO ன QDQFLDO support proposed is welcome, but this could easily be DŕŽ‰ RUGHG E\ DQ LQVWLWXWLRQ OLNH LSE which is in such robust
ன QDQFLDO KHDOWK‍ ڕ‏FRQWLQXHG Peters-Day. In a press release, the Students’ Union questions Director Craig Calhoun over the rise saying, “given that Professor Craig Calhoun is a signatory of the Manifesto for Higher education which calls for the abolition of fees it is somewhat surprising to VHH WKDW WKH ன UVW RSSRUWX nity he gets to discuss the School’s strategy to fee levels, he supports a policy to increase them.â€? An LSE spokesperson said of the decision “Moving to a ÂŁ9,000 UK undergraduate fee from ÂŁ8,500 would put LSE in line with other Russell Group universities and would be consistent with the market value and the quality of an LSE degree.â€? “All UK students, regardless of income, are entitled to a loan to cover the full cost of their tuition fees, meaning there is no upfront cost. All students are also able to take out a maintenance loan
from the government. This is in addition to all grants, bursaries and awards. The loan for fees and maintenance is paid back gradually once the student has graduated and is earning over ÂŁ21,000 per annum.â€? The Academic Planning and Research Committee, a branch of Academic Board, recommended in a fourteento-one decision, a rise to the maximum level of fees as set down by the UK government, and in a report to Academic Board obtained by the Beaver states, “It is assumed‌ that the proposal to move WR e LV LQ HŕŽ‰ HFW D GHFL sion to adopt the maximum fee chargeable as set by the government and this would LQFOXGH DQ\ LQŕŽ‹ DWLRQ DPRXQW added in 2014 and future years.â€? Pro-Director George Gaskell reportedly said, according to an anonymous source, that “If the government went to ÂŁ12000 we would go to ÂŁ12000â€? but was
rebuked by Director Craig Calhoun who claimed the motion was to set fees to ÂŁ9000. What Academic Board recommends is not immediately clear and will be subject to amendment by LSE Council. Whether fees for 2014 entrants will be higher than ÂŁ9000 also remains to be seen as the government has not yet announced if, in fact, there will be an increase in maximum fees levels to acFRXQW IRU LQŕŽ‹ DWLRQ Advocates for the rise in fees proposed by the Academic Board point to an improved bursary system that will help encourage those IURP SRRUHU ன QDQFLDO EDFN grounds to apply to the LSE. 50 per cent of the ‘extra income’ from the fee levels being set above ÂŁ6000 will go towards bursaries, according to today’s APRC recommenGDWLRQV 7KLV LV VLJQLன FDQWO\ higher than LSE competitor universities such as Oxford (41 per cent) and Cambridge (31 per cent).
The recommendations made by Academic Board to LSE Council, the School’s governing body, will be voted on by March 22nd, 2013. Following radical government reform, the cap on tuition fees was raised to ÂŁ9,000 for the 2012/13 academic year, tripling the original amount. LSE was, at that time, the only university in the Russell Group of research-oriented university to decline charging the maximum fee of ÂŁ9,000, setting fees at ÂŁ8,500 instead. The decision, ன QDOLVHG E\ WKH /6( &RXQFLO in May 2011, came despite recommendation by the Academic Board then to set fees at ÂŁ8,000. Student representative to the Academic Board, Nona Buckley-Irvine, opposes the rise in fees, stating “it is comSOHWHO\ XQMXVWLன HG WR UDLVH fees on the basis of ‘value’ when many students feel unsupported by their departments.â€?
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