Responding to the motion that was tabled by the University and College Union, NUS President Wes Streeting said:
“We welcome the TUC’s recognition that the economic crisis has hit young people particularly hard, with over one million under 25s expected to be unemployed by next year. In this climate it is laughable that some vice chancellors are arguing that students should pay even higher fees.
“We also agree with the TUC that we must avoid the emergence of a market in higher education, where only the rich could afford to attend our most prestigious universities. The Government must resist a knee jerk reaction to the recession which would short change our higher education system and leave it at the mercy of market forces.”
According to a report by Universities UK earlier this year, graduates would owe an average of over £32,000 if the cap on fees were raised to £7,000 a year.