Ever since Dearing, the question of tuition fees has dominated policy conversations about higher education.
The “major reviews” that followed – Browne and Augar – focused (or were interpreted to be focused) on the way higher education is paid for to the detriment of any consideration of quality and value outside of a nominal monetary value.
Those of us who have been around for a while have lived through earnest debates around “top up” fees, and any number of de-facto sticker prices. I’m sure I’ve marched against them enough times.
But is it time for another review as far reaching as Dearing was? With Labour casting around for policy ideas in this space, I’d argue that something like that would be a big help.
