ABSTRACT
In 1940s and 1950s, the government attempted to steer the future development of higher education and to exercise greater control. The landmark of this development was the appointment of the Robbins Committee, which conducted the biggest investigation into the state of higher education that Britain had seen so far and which reported in 1963. But the Robbins Report was by far not the only significant report of the 1960s. Three years prior to the Robbins Report, the Anderson Committee published its recommendations for the reform of student maintenance grants. Though often ignored, the Anderson Report and the reform of the grant system mark one of the most important steps in the history of British higher education, for students. With the partial inclusion of higher education into the welfare state, the position of the student shifted. As higher education was framed in a discourse structured around the nodal point 'equality', the student was to some extent recognised as an agent.
