Today the ASI has released a think piece by Anton Howes, which defends the Browne Review and its recommendations for the future of university funding. Anton argues that the Review’s key recommendations – such as its call for the removal of a cap on tuition fees – would end the shortage of university places and allow for a more efficient university system that benefits students. Combined with some modifications to the Review’s proposals for tuition fee repayments, this would allow British universities to retain their world class status and resolve the untenable situation of Britain's universities.
The report does not directly address the government’s proposals, announced earlier today, because the Browne Review remains as the comprehensive investigation into funding. The government's proposals do not address many of the problems and solutions raised by Lord Browne, and as such the article focuses on the pragmatic, evidence-based proposals in his review. The coalition’s policy will go through several rethinks over the coming months, and members of the government would do well to remain conscious of the facts and not the myths about higher education in the UK.