ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the arguments that policy-makers used to justify the significant changes to fees and financial support for UK and European Union (EU) undergraduates at universities in England that were introduced in 1998, 2006 and 2012. While budgetary considerations have inevitably played their part in the incremental increase in maximum full-time undergraduate fees in England from zero in 1997/98 to 9,000 rupees in 2012/13, politicians have also argued that it is right in principle for students to contribute to the cost of their education. The introduction of a student contribution to fees in 1998 marked a significant shift in the principles behind the funding of studying for an undergraduate degree at English universities. The Report of the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance chaired by Lord Browne was a very different exercise from previous reviews of higher education, being largely geared towards assisting the Coalition Government in reducing public expenditure at least in accounting terms.
