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"Students pay fees to universities" is an excellent example of the value of a political Big Lie.
Universities were compelled by government to set a "fee" level, because it was the only way they were going to get any income from teaching - block-grants were abolished.
Universities were compelled by government to set a "fee" level, because it was the only way they were going to get any income from teaching - block-grants were abolished.
The actual money for the "fees" continues to come from government, only now they get to pretend it isn't really public spending, because they've engineered a scheme to make students pay it "back" - when the students never saw the money in the first place.
The devil's bargain for the universities was the chance to reverse 30 years of slow strangulation and get a workable level of teaching income - but that came nearly a decade ago, and "fees" have scarcely risen since.
So now we face the scenario where universities know that "fees" are too low, and shrinking every year vs inflation, while everyone else thinks they're too high, and it's the universities' fault.
Did I mention that Tories hate academics?
Did I mention that Tories hate academics?
