Whether we like it or not, there is one higher education issue that tends to bestride all the others at general elections, and that is tuition fees.
In many ways, that is an odd fact. Undergraduate fees have existed in some form or other in most of the UK since 1998 – for more than a quarter of a century in fact. That is twice as long as the period of entirely free higher education for undergraduates, which lasted only from the late 1970s (when the previous means-tested fees disappeared) until 1990 (when maintenance loans kicked in).
Moreover, higher education finance is a devolved matter. So general elections do not directly affect policies in this area as directly as they once did, at least outside England.
And in the period since 1998, there have been 12 years of Labour Government, five years of Coalition Government and nine years of Conservative Government. So all three major UK-wide parties have backed fees while in office at Westminster.
