Two children, different fees

By Gary Eason
BBC News Online education editor

Ministers' plans mean higher costs for families like the Grays

A brother and sister who plan to graduate from university at the same time will owe different amounts in fees and end up with different levels of debt.

If the government's plans go ahead, their courses will straddle the introduction of "top-up" fees.

This poses a dilemma for their parents, trying to be fair to both in terms of the amount of support they provide.

Do they contribute equal amounts or equal proportions of the cost of being at university?

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Sally Gray's eldest - Jenny, 17 - is studying physics, maths and biology for A-level exams next May and intends to do civil engineering at the University of Surrey.

I don't think it's a good thing to start your life with a huge debt Mother's view

That involves a four-year course - plus a year out in industry - so she will not graduate until 2009.

She will get industry sponsorship of £1,700 a year plus £15,000 during the work experience year.

She will be there under the current fee system, which involves paying £1,150 in tuition fees at the start of each year.

Her 15-year-old brother, Robin, is doing his GCSEs and hopes to go to university two years later - just as the new system will start, if the government gets its way.

So he is likely to be liable for fees of up to £3,000 per year, payable once his postgraduate earnings pass £15,000.

Debt burden

His inclinations are towards music, maths or modern languages. Assuming he does a three-year course, he will finish at the same time as Jenny but have far higher debts.

"To be fair to him, we should pay all £9,000, otherwise our children will not be treated fairly by us or the government," Mrs Gray said.

It is a dilemma the family has not yet resolved.

For now at least, she says, Robin is not concerned with the finances, only the subjects that interest him.

But it shows how different sorts of student support might sway people's choice of courses.

"I don't like the idea of him being saddled with a huge debt at the end," his mother said.

"I don't think it's a good thing to start your life with a huge debt.

"The government also seems to be saying it's OK to be in debt and I don't think it is."

'Aggrieved'

And she takes issue with the idea in some quarters that graduates should be taxed at a higher rate, to reflect the fact that they have had extra education.

She argues that they pay more in tax anyway, if they do indeed earn more as a result of having a degree.

And Mrs Gray regards it as "an anomaly" that students from poorer families should be exempt from fees and receive grants - if no-one has to pay until they can afford to, out of their graduate earnings.

"Whether they are poorer or not when they go to university seems irrelevant. I feel a bit aggrieved by that."

Being bright children from a family that has experienced and values higher education, going to university is something her daughter and son naturally expect to do.

But their mother does think the prospect of higher fees could be a deterrent for those who are "borderline".

"I wouldn't be surprised to see a huge drop in student numbers, and I think it will cause a funding issue that has not been foreseen," she said.

Fee levels

Jenny's attitude shows how tricky a judgement universities have to make in deciding the level at which to set their fees.

Do they charge the cost of the course - with engineering being more expensive than, say, English - or set lower fees for the less popular, "shortage" subjects, such as engineering?

Trying to attract more students by setting lower fees could backfire.

"I think they will charge higher fees," Jenny said.

"If they had fees of just £500 a year you would think it was a really crap uni."