Parents to pay £700k more towards uni fees
PARENTS will have to foot the bill after Education confirmed plans to strip out another £700,000 from the higher education budget by 2017.
It is earmarked as part of the department's savings for the financial transformation programme (FTP).
In a States report published today, Education has reconfirmed that student loans will not be introduced and the means-tested grant system will continue largely unamended. It wants to cut the higher education budget from £6,282,667 in 2014 to £5,588,000 in 2017.
'The budget reduction has largely been achieved by increasing the maximum contribution to fees parents will pay in future,' said Education minister Robert Sillars, pictured, in the report, which will be debated the March States meeting.
'Any student choosing an approved course, even where the fees are in excess of £9,000, such as medicine, science or engineering, will have a parental contribution capped at £8,900.'
Education has successfully staved off plans from all but one of the institutions under the UK Universities banner, which is Cambridge, to start charging Guernsey overseas tuition rates – these attract considerably higher fees.
