University tuition fees paid by students need to rise with inflation, the head of a Welsh university has told a Commons committee. The current £9,000 a year to study for a degree in Wales - and £9,250 in England - is not sustainable at a time when inflation is running at 10% Professor Edmund Burke, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University told the Welsh Affairs Committee.
Professor Burke said higher fees from international students are vital to subsidise inadequate domestic tuition fee prices as well as research. The Commons committee evidence session comes amid warnings from universities in Wales about a lack of funding since Brexit leading to job losses and fees remaining static for nearly a decade.
Welsh universities appear to have been more heavily dependent on EU structural funds than other universities elsewhere in the UK and as many as 1,000 higher education jobs could be lost with EU structural funds coming to an end, the committee was also told.
In a passionate plea to raise domestic fees Professor Burke told the committee: “There is an issue UK-wide around fees. We have inflation running at around 10% and we have, across the UK, fixed fees. This is unsustainable into the future, it simply cannot continue without something giving at some point. It’s a UK issue. There is a £250 differential in Wales, but it’s a UK-wide issue and it’s unsustainable. Whether £9,000 or £9,2505 if it is fixed into the future it is unsustainable and we need to address that.”
He added that higher paying international students were vital to help shore up gaps in research funding streams and domestic fees. “What is making it work financially at this institution is international fees, at the moment,” he warned.
