The LSE Council today announced that from 2012/13 the annual tuition fee for UK and EU undergraduates at the School will be £8,500. The Council noted the following reasons in support of their decision:
1. £8,500 as a headline fee, below the maximum chargeable amount, sends a clear message that LSE welcomes students from all backgrounds. It represents a fee waiver to all students and is a reflection of the concern expressed by many members of the LSE community about the extent, and the suddenness, of the increase of home/EU fees and the impact this may have on many students and their families.
2. This also represents a generous package of support for lower income students, with 50 per cent of additional fee income being redirected to access initiatives, bursaries and on course support.
3. Despite the loss of all our teaching grant, LSE has one of the strongest financial positions of any UK university. Therefore it is able to take a distinctive position and take account of arguments of principle in this area, while continuing to invest in teaching, the student experience and the estate.
The new fee package will enable LSE to increase the money spent on access and widening participation while keeping tuition costs down for students. The bursaries package would benefit just under a third of UK undergraduates at LSE, based on current projections.
The Council noted that the result of the vote by the School's Academic Board was extremely close with just one vote separating those in favour of a £9,000 fee (67) and those against (68). In light of this fact, no formal recommendation was made by the Academic Board to the LSE Council, which has decided on a package which has a lower than maximum headline fee but a large proportion of fee income being re-distributed.
In recent years LSE has improved the proportion of students from state schools, low socio-economic backgrounds and low participation neighbourhoods against benchmarks set by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. In 2009/10, LSE significantly exceeded its benchmark for recruiting students from low socio-economic backgrounds, with over a fifth of its intake falling into this category (20.7 per cent) against a benchmark of 18.1 per cent.
Overall the Council have agreed to increase the annual amount spent on bursaries and discounts for UK undergraduates to over £2.2 million by 2014/15 and on widening participation and retention measures to £665,00 by 2014/15. This represents £1,250 per student.
Professor Judith Rees, LSE Director, said, "We are determined to preserve academic standards and ensure that all students with the ability to benefit are not deterred from applying to LSE. In recent years we have put a great deal of resource into widening participation activities and are delighted that we can now expand these. Our new fee package allows us to provide exceptional value for all students while continuing to target funding on the poorest."
Notes:
Proposed package of student support available for LSE students in 2012/13:
LSE awards
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Students from households with an income of less than £18,000 p/a will receive an annual LSE award of £3,500 as well as being eligible for a full grant from the government and a student loan.
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Students from households with an income from £18,001-£25,000 p/a will receive an annual LSE award of £3,000 as well as being eligible for a full grant from the government and a student loan.
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Students from households with an income from £25,001-£30,000 p/a will receive an annual LSE award of £2,500 as well as being eligible for a partial government grant and a loan.
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Students from households with an income from £30,001-£35,000 p/a will receive an annual LSE award of £1,500 as well as being eligible for a partial government grant and a loan.
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Students from households with an income from £35,001-£40,000 p/a will receive an annual LSE award of £750 as well as being eligible for a partial government grant and a loan.
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Students from households with an income from £40,001-£42,600 p/a will receive an annual LSE award of £500 as well as being eligible for a partial government grant and a loan.
Government support
The full government grant for 2012-13 is £3,250 p/a and is available to all students from a household income of under £25,000 p/a. Those from households with an income between £25,000-£42,600 p/a will be entitled to a partial government grant on a sliding scale.
All UK students, regardless of income, are entitled to a loan to cover the full cost of their tuition fees, meaning there is no upfront cost. All students are also able to take out a maintenance loan from the government. This is in addition to all grants, bursaries and awards. The loan for fees and maintenance is paid back gradually once the student has graduated and is earning over £21,000 p/a.
National Scholarship Programme
The LSE projects that students from the poorest backgrounds will also receive £3,000 in 2012/13 from the National Scholarship Programme, which will be continued in subsequent years by the LSE partly in the form of a discount on accommodation or fee waiver. This is in addition to any LSE awards and Government grants.
LSE tuition fees strike the right balance| [from Comment is Free]
posted 25 May 2011