The NUS lobby followed a new Universities UK report which revealed vice chancellors believe and average fee of around £6,500 pounds would be needed to secure long-term funding for teaching.
The report considered lifting the cap to £5,000, to £7,000, and removing it altogether. It also considered capping student loans and encouraging students to take out private loans instead.
Former Education Secretary David Blunkett has condemned the plans to lift the cap on fees and an early day motion (EDM) tabled in the House of Commons by top-up fee rebel Paul Farrelly MP received the backing of eighteen MPs, just two days after being proposed.
The motion says the forthcoming review of university and student finance must involve a broad debate about how higher education is and should be funded and calls for NUS involvement in the review.
Alternative models
At the lobby, NUS launched its new publication, “Five Foundations for an Alternative Higher Education Funding System for England”.
"It is essential that the forthcoming review of university funding looks at all the evidence of the effect of fees and debt on students who attend our universities," said Mr Farrelly.
"I oppose introducing a market system in higher education, like in the US, which many elitists want. We need to increase participation by students from poorer backgrounds, not price them out of going to university at all."
Fantasising
NUS President Wes Streeting said: “In the context of the current recession, it is extremely arrogant for university vice chancellors to be fantasising about charging their students even higher fees and plunging them into over £32,000 of debt.
"We will be talking to MPs about a number of radical proposals, including making higher education free at the point of use, with graduates making a contribution depending on how much they are benefitting financially from their own use of the system.
"We will also be calling for all financial support to be based on how much a student needs it, not where they happen to be studying.”
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