Both Sussex University and Brighton University will charge the maximum of £9,000 in tuition fees from next year.
Brighton University announced its decision today (Tuesday 19 April) less than three weeks after Sussex University set its fees at the upper limit.
It is also just under a fortnight since Brighton and Sussex Medical School also decided to charge the £9,000 maximum too.
The decision to charge the maximum was made despite the pledge by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that universities charging £9,000 would be the exception not the rule.
Yet a BBC survey found that more than half the universities that had announced their fees were planning to charge the maximum.
Professor Julian Crampton, the Brighton University’s vice-chancellor, said: “We have considered very carefully and fully all the implications of the coalition government’s new policy on university funding.
“We have come to the firm conclusion that to continue to provide the high-quality professional and socially and economically relevant degree courses for which the University of Brighton is renowned, we need to ensure significant flows of future income.
Real costs
“We have attracted nearly 40,000 applicants this year, making us the 12th most applied for university in the country, and our proposed fees reflect the real costs of providing the kinds of educational experience which our students expect, require and deserve.
“Our proposals will enable us to continue to develop and deliver cutting-edge professionally focused education across all our fields of learning, from architecture and engineering to medicine and pharmacy, and from sport science and media production to computing and accountancy.
“Our courses are recognised and accredited by more than 60 statutory and professional bodies.”
The proposed fee structure, he said, would enable the university to continue investing in the provision of state-of-the-art facilities.
More than £100 million recently has been invested in new science, education and sports facilities.
Brighton University said that foundation degrees taught at its partner colleges across Sussex would attract fees of between £7,000 and £8,300.
Professor Crampton said: “The University of Brighton provides quality courses to equip students with enterprise, creativity, professional skills and hands-on experience.
“The end result speaks for itself: 88 per cent of our graduates start a job or go into further study or training within six months of leaving the university.”
Not everyone would have to pay the full fees, Professor Crampton said.
He added: “We target financial support at those who need it – at young people leaving local authority care, those on low incomes, students from areas with low participation in higher education and mature learners with no income.”
Professor Crampton said that more than £5 million a year would be made available for fee waivers, bursaries and other forms of financial support.
The package could reduce fees by £4,000 over the length of recipients’ courses.
Outreach
A further £2.8 million would be invested in outreach work with local schools and colleges, and for academic and pastoral support for students most in need, to help them make successful applications to the university and to support them in their studies and beyond.
Professor Crampton said: “Overall, we are shifting from giving small amounts of money to targeting substantial bursary support towards those who need it most.
“Local students satisfying the eligibility criteria may receive as much as £13,000 over three years.”
Sam Mallender, president of the university’s Students’ Union, said: “We continue to condemn the government’s relentless attacks against higher education and will carry on fighting for a fairer funding system.
“Due to governmental cuts we understand the university’s decision to charge £9,000 and in this realise there is little other option to bridge the funding gap.
“We support the university’s work in ensuring the student body is as diverse as possible and that students come from a wide range of economic backgrounds.
“Brighton Students’ Union will also be working to ensure the best student experience for all our members, current and future.”
Inclusive
Professor Crampton said: “We and our partner colleges have a strong record of making higher education available to people from the entire spectrum of social and economic backgrounds in Sussex and beyond.
“We have a reputation as one of the country’s most socially inclusive universities and we are determined to continue offering quality to all.”
All proposed tuition fees are subject to approval by the Office of Fair Access.
At the end of March, Sussex University said: “From 2012 the University of Sussex intends to charge new home and eligible EU undergraduate students £9,000 per year, subject to Government approval.”
A spokesman for the university, which is based in Falmer, said: “At the same time Sussex will launch an innovative First-Generation Scholars scheme to support students whose parents haven’t been to university as well as those from low-income families.
“We expect also to provide scholarships for academic merit.
“This support from Sussex will be additional to the loans and grants available to students directly from government.”
Inevitable and all part of the liberalisation of the welfare state started by Thatcher, carried forward by New Labour and now resulting in the greatest attack on the social wage in our lifetimes by the current government. Cameron is requiring a token offer to disadvantaged students but the net result will increasingly be an even greater social division between rich and poor. Liberalisation usually means privatisation and this is how the Universities are being forced to do it. At the same time pensions are under attack, schools are being privatised through academy schools, the NHS is being privatised through the White Paper, deregulation will free up the market for private companies and the corporations. Public spending cuts are forcing ordinary people to pay for services that have always been free. Vote carefully this May.Although local government is relatively powerless it will send a serious message to central government.