Browne Report Could Have Worrying Knock Ons For Island's Student Grant System

Report Suggests Power be Given to Universties to Decide How Much They Charge

The results of Lord Browne’s review into higher education in the UK and his recommendations regarding tuition fees could potentially have some worrying knock ons for the Isle of Man.

Initially the Lib Dems had proposed that graduates repay their costs through a higher income tax.

This would have been unlikely to have much of an effect on the Island, however that proposal has since been scrapped with the Browne report suggesting that the power be given to Universities to charge what they like, with graduates to repay their loans when earning above £21,000.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has endorsed this suggestion.

Potentially this could lead to a marked increase across the board, which would be bad news for the Isle of Man’s Government, who year on year strive to cover higher education tuition costs for Manx students.

Government has committed £11.5 million to higher education funding for the next year.

When asked for a comment on the matter the Department of Education and Children Minister Eddie Teare said ‘it’s premature to comment in any depth about it as we have to await the reaction of the Universities.'

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