Antitrust Alert: UK Report Highlights Competition in the Higher Education Sector

Today an independent committee, chaired by Lord Browne of Madingley, reported its recommendations for university funding and student finance in England. Lord Browne's report, which could significantly affect future competition in higher education, includes the following recommendations:

• Removal of the GBP 3,290 cap on tuition fees.
• Free market in fees (the Report models charges up to GBP 12,000 a year) but introduction of a "soft cap" whereby universities charging more than GBP 6,000 a year would lose a proportion of the fee to help cover the cost of student borrowing. The consequences of this, as mooted in the press, are that the majority of institutions will charge GBP 6,000 but some, probably highly selective universities such as the Oxbridge institutions, may eventually charge up to GBP 15,000 a year.