Tuition fees need not be increased

08 February 2011

Responding to the recommendation by Joanne Stuart that tuition fees for students in Northern Ireland should be increased from £3000 to £5750, TUV spokesman David Vance said; "TUV opposes this ill considered recommendation to almost double Tuition Fees for Northern Ireland students. Such a punitive increase in fees will lead to decades of debt for our future graduates. In what way will that help our future economic prospects? It is important that Tuition Fees are capped at the current level and that our local Universities also take this opportunity to explore how they can provide better value for our students. Graduates are a rich vein of skills for the future and we need to make sure that they can take advantage of world class education here in Northern Ireland without the fear of lifelong debt"

“The DEL Minister missed a great opportunity today to commit to a bold move which could contribute to arresting the brain drain from Northern Ireland and, thereby, lay a firm foundation for economic growth.

“By borrowing from the Scottish model he should have committed to freezing fees for Northern Ireland students and thereby provided a compelling incentive for all, including our brightest and best students, to undertake their third level education at home in Northern Ireland, with the resulting probability that many would stay and make vital contribution to the growth of our economy. 

“The Minister referred to the cost of maintaining the status quo as £40-65m pa, but such is only half of what Stormont wastes every year on the useless north/south bodies. Slashing that waste could at a stroke provide the money to underwrite the future of our excellent universities and save hard-pressed Northern Ireland parents and students from huge fee hikes.”

NI politics