Recent information about academic cuts at Oxford University has caused controversy over the necessity of its decision to charge £9,000 a year in tuition fees.
Figures published last Thursday by the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) reveal that Oxford is expected to face a reduction in funding of just 1% in real terms.
Cambridge is seeing its funding cut by only 3%, whereas City University in London is suffering a 10.8% cut. The worst hit university, with its funding slashed by 15.8%, is Bishop Grossteste in Lincoln, which has announced that it will charge tuition fees of £7,500 for most of its courses from 2012.
However, Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of HEFCE, suggested that the universities with the smallest funding changes are those with high levels of world-leading research and significant financial support from charities and businesses.
It is expected that Oxford University will receive £7.3 million less from HEFCE next year. Yet in 2009-10, government funding only formed 23% of the institution\’s income.
External research contracts and grants made up 40%, bringing in £367 million.
Furthermore, the university appears to be benefiting from an increase in charitable donations. Statistics released last week in the Ross-CASE Survey show that in 2009-10 Oxford and Cambridge accounted for half of all new charitable funds secured by universities, despite overall charitable donations to UK universities having dropped by £20 million.
This information has caused some to question the university\’s decision to raise tuition fees to £9,000 per year as a method of generating further income.
Rachel Farnsworth, a first year PPE student, commented, \”I absolutely dont think it\’s necessary – if Oxford wanted to, they could easily charge less, and I bet the people donating would want some of it spent on undergrads.
\”I think they\’re just playing a game of one-upmanship with Cambridge over fees really!\’
The university predicts that the highest departmental cut, of £5.1 million, will be to \”Old & Historic Buildings Allocation\”, something which has little impact on the teaching and research of academic departments.
However, a spokesperson for Oxford University said that the raise in fees would help \”to safeguard the future of our transformative education system.\”
\”Oxford students also enjoy exceptional facilities for learning thanks to a combination of college and University provision. All of this costs a huge amount of money, and Oxford is absolutely committed to maintaining this provision.\”
With other prestigious institutions, such as Cambridge, Durham and Imperial College London, having all declared that they will be raising tuition fees to the maximum of £9000 per year, it has been argued that the decision of Oxford University is necessary as a means of preserving its reputation.
Lincoln college student, Adam Rachlin, agreed that \”raising tuition fees to £9,000 per year is a necessary step to keep Oxford a first rate university\”.
He added, \”however, the extent to which access is increased will be the marker for how fair the system is, and from what I\’ve heard so far Oxford will have large schemes to improve access.\”
In a statement from the Vice-Chancellor, it was said that \”after public funding cuts, the proposals [to charge £9,000 tuition fees] only bring in £10 million of real extra income, of which 70% goes on new spending on student support and access.\”
Â
Â
