Lord Patten, the Chancellor of Oxford University, has spoken out in the House of Lords in favour of trebling tuition fees.
He attacked Lord Krebs, the principal of Jesus College, over his opposition to the rise, calling Lord Krebs’ speech “a triumph of hope over experience”. The Conservative peer said that he had been “for twenty years a passionate believer in a bigger contribution by students to their education.”
Patten stated, “We know from the experience of the past forty years that the taxpayer will not provide the money [for higher education], so the only revenue stream that is left is the student.”
The Chancellor was defending the government’s controversial proposed changes to higher education, which passed last Thursday in the House of Commons with a majority of only twenty-one. Labour party peers had tabled an amendment, which would require the government to rethink the reforms.
The Chancellor’s comments came immediately after those of Lord Krebs, the Principal of Jesus College and crossbench peer, who had opposed the increase in fees.
Krebs commented that he had changed his mind on the issue of raising the tuition fee cap. He said that conversations with students at Oxford lead him to believe that the rise in debt will deter the poorest students from participating in higher education.
He told the House, “The proposals are not justified and fair. They do not make the funding of universities more sustainable. We do not understand the consequences.”
The amendment failed to pass in the House of Lords. Tuition fees are expected to rise to £9,000 in 2012 for most universities in England.
Lord Patten’s comments this week come in the wake of concerted opposition to higher fees from Oxford students, which has included sit-ins at the Council Offices and Radcliffe Camera.
