Graduates who have completed their studies and are among the country's higher earners will make a greater contribution towards the cost of their education. As their earnings increase, so will their contributions.
Under the reforms the bulk of funding will follow the choices of students, rather than flowing as a block grant from the Government as at present - encouraging universities to put more focus on teaching quality and employment opportunities for their graduates.
There will be a graduate contribution threshold of £6,000 a year. In exceptional cases, universities will be able to charge higher contributions, up to a limit of £9,000, subject to meeting much tougher conditions on widening participation and fair access. It will be up to the university or college to decide what it charges, including whether it charges at different levels for different courses.
A new £150m National Scholarships Programme will be targeted at bright potential students from poor backgrounds. It will guarantee students benefits such as a free first year or foundation year.
The Government will lend any eligible student the money to pay the university or college for tuition costs. For the first time, part-time students will be entitled to a loan and no longer forced to pay up-front costs, so long as they are studying a third as much as a full time student.
Graduates will not make a contribution towards tuition costs until they are earning at least £21,000, up from the current £15,000. The repayment will be on 9% of income above £21,000, and all outstanding repayments will be written off after 30 years.
The Government will publish a Higher Education White Paper in the winter with detailed proposals on the wider, long-term issues that arise from Lord Browne’s review on Higher Education Funding and Student Finance.
