UCU responds to Institute for Employment Studies student fees report

The union said that graduate premiums in the past had been exposed as woefully inaccurate and little more than guesswork.
 
UCU said that nobody should be in anyway surprised that the majority of 81 students asked if they would pay more for a course that guaranteed a better salary responded positively. The union added that degrees at different prices would lead to a situation where the richest students pick whatever course they like with the rest left to fight it out for anything within budget.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Asking people if they would be prepared to pay more for a guarantee to earn a lot more is a ridiculous question. Of course people will say yes. Unfortunately the researchers, universities and government cannot make such a cast-iron guarantee - particularly in these tough economic times.
 
'Graduate premiums were embarrassingly misused during the last student finance review and it looks like they are being misused this time around. The bottom line is that if you introduce different prices for different degrees you will have a situation where the richest students pick whatever course they like with the rest left to fight it out for anything within budget.'