Higher Education: Financial Sustainability

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I do not recognise the words “canoe”, “upstream” or “waterfall” mentioned in that question. According to the OECD, we are one of the few nations to have introduced a system of sustainable higher education finance. Indeed, our numbers of students are up to record levels at nearly half a million.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

My Lords, is there not a triple whammy? The Government are no longer funding higher education; they are funding the debts of students who are attending universities. Students are acquiring debts—the latest figures from the IFS show an average debt of £44,000 per student leaving university. In addition, as we have just heard, universities have lost funding for important courses such as languages. The Government say that there is no imminent pressure on the system. Which way is the Minister facing?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I am facing firmly in the direction of the widely accepted view that both the student and the state should share the burden of higher education. In fact, graduates have higher earning potential than non-graduates.