UK: Universities enticed to consider fees cut

The English government's Office for Fair Access has submitted fresh guidance to vice-chancellors telling them to impose fees of £7,500 (US$11,973) or less to claim a share of 20,000 free places for 2012, writes Graeme Paton for The Telegraph.

More than a third of universities currently intend to charge £9,000 a year for a degree - the maximum allowed under a radical shake-up of higher education in England. The estimated average fee will be around £8,393, it was revealed. But ministers are desperate to drive fees down to reduce the student loans bill amid fears that billions of pounds handed out to undergraduates will never be paid back.

This summer, the government unveiled plans to effectively reserve 20,000 places for full-time undergraduates at the cheapest universities or colleges. Institutions can bid for a share of the places if they charge less than £7,500. Now it has emerged that at least 12 universities - around one-in-10 of those in England - are considering cutting their fees to qualify for the scheme.
Full report on The Telegraph site