Graduates must pay to save Scots universities

Scottish universities risk falling behind those in England without the introduction of a graduate contribution scheme to top up government funding, academic leaders have warned.

• Students at the University of Birmingham march in protest at the Browne report, which they fear would lead to students in England facing massive debts and would favour the wealthy Picture: PA

The warning came as a review of higher education funding in England by Lord Browne recommended handing institutions "significant new powers to raise money".

Scottish university principals and other senior figures from the sector lined up to urge SNP ministers to take action to preserve the quality of higher education north of the Border.

A recent survey of UK higher education showed only four Scottish universities were in the top 40 institutions in the UK. Education secretary Michael Russell is under pressure from university chiefs to back a "graduate contribution" scheme to stop Scottish institutions being put at a competitive disadvantage with England.

Lord Browne's review of student funding proposes the most radical shake-up of higher education funding south of the Border for years.

The review called for the cap on tuition fees to be lifted, raising the prospect that institutions could charge as much as 12,000 a year for some courses. It called for universities to be left to set their own fees, with the UK government fully underwriting fees up to 6,000 a year.

MORE ON THE FUTURE OF SCOTLAND'S UNIVERSITIES

• Ian Diamond: We outperform the world, now let's keep it that way

• Browne Report: the key recommendations

• Premium- David Bell: Nothing is for free in public services

Any university charging more than 6,000 would be hit with a tapered levy to cover the cost to government of providing students with finance, and the university would keep progressively less of the extra funding.

The repayment threshold would be lifted to 21,000 from the current 15,000, and graduates would pay back loans at a much higher rate of interest, equal to the government's cost of borrowing, which could leave them facing many years of debt.

Business Secretary Vince Cable's announcement that he will push ahead with Lord Browne's proposals sparked fears that Scotland's higher education sector would be starved of a funding stream from which English institutions will benefit.

Mr Russell has ruled out tuition fees or a return to the graduate endowment system, with a spokesman saying the SNP administration would look at any other "sensible" funding solution.

Professor Anton Muscatelli, principal of the University of Glasgow, said he opposed up-front tuition fees, but warned that the Scottish Government's funding of universities might not be "sustainable".

"If we are to succeed on the world stage, Scotland's higher education sector will have to develop its own solution to the challenges it faces in the light of a reduction in UK public sector spending," he said.

But Prof Muscatelli added: "I believe that up-front tuition fees should not be adopted in Scotland. It's counter to Scotland's educational philosophy.

"I believe we need to adopt a graduate contribution model that is properly designed, progressive and one which requires those who earn more during their lifetime to pay back more to society in order to fund higher education."

Ministers are due to launch a green paper on higher education funding in December, which will be followed by a 12-month discussion of the issue.

Meanwhile, Gerard deGroot, professor of modern history at St Andrews University, said the "flagship Scottish universities, like St Andrews and Edinburgh, already struggle to compete with the top institutions south of the Border."

"Browne has, perhaps unintentionally, thrown a gauntlet down to the SNP," he said. "Mike Russell and his colleagues face a stark choice: do they want to protect the increasingly untenable principle of free higher education in Scotland, or do they want to preserve the international reputation of the top Scottish universities? They can't do both."

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, which backs a student contribution, expressed concern about whether Scottish institutions would be able to compete with those in England, which are likely to charge fees of about 7,000.

"We need to ensure that policy and spending decisions in Scotland keep our universities competitive not just with England in the light of Browne's recommendations but also internationally," he said.

Sir Andrew Cubie, the author of an influential report that led to the scrapping of tuition fees north of the Border, told The Scotsman that ministers needed to take action to "bridge the gap" between Scottish and English universities.

Mr Russell insisted that the principle behind the Browne review in England was "to transfer the cost of higher education from the state to the student".

He restated the Scottish Government's opposition to up-front tuition fees, and said Scotland had a "different way of doing things".

• East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson is facing calls to resign as a key government aide over the Liberal Democrats' U-turn on tuition fees.

Labour last night claimed she had helped build her political career on the back of campaigning against student tuition fees.

Now she is the parliamentary private secretary to Mr Cable, who is planning on increasing them.