Hike to £4.5k would have affected Magee numbers

Deputy Secretary at the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL) Andrew Hamilton made the comments during an evidence session on student fees before Stormont’s Employment and Learning Committee.

University Minister Stephen Farry recently announced fees would rise only in line with inflation in Northern Ireland and thus would remain at around £3k-£3.5k.

But during a recent briefing at Stormont the Employment and Learning Committee Chairman Basil McCrea asked if fees had been increased “by a modest amount to, for the sake of argument, £4,500” would this have helped the Executive manage the costs of university provision more easily?

“Would the £4,500 fee have increased the number of students we could have had here, so that we might have increased the number of students at Magee in Londonderry or elsewhere?” he asked.

Mr Hamilton replied: “It is our view that the higher the fee differential, the more impact that it will have on student flows. A very modest difference would not have the same impact. However, once you open up a significant difference of many thousands of pounds, it will impact on individual student choices and those of their families. Issues of affordability come in to play.”