Vote on University Fees

In addition to teaching duties, Cambridge academics are involved in running the University. Academics are members of The Regent House which is the governing body of the University and responsible for deciding on the rules and regulations of the University.  Changes to University regulations are subject to a democratic vote by all members of The Regent House. We are currently being asked to vote on increasing the fees that undergraduates will have to pay to study here from 2012 onwards. The two options in the vote are to charge fees at £6000 per annum or £9,000 per annum. The current University fees for UK and EU students are £3,375 per year and this will have to increase from 2012 as the Government is cutting the teaching grant money it gives to all Universities in the UK. The current teaching grant to Cambridge is around £51 million and to recoup the loss of this teaching grant, Cambridge will have to charge at least £8,400 per year based on the current number of undergraduates. Cambridge is not alone in this as several other Universities in the UK have already decided to raise the fees to £9,000 per annum which is the maximum allowed by the Government. My moral dilemma is that I completely disagree with any increase in University fees and if they have to go up, I would like them to be kept as small as possible. Morally, I should vote for the £6,000 per annum option but that would not leave the University in a financially viable position and jobs would have to be lost. This would be like a turkey voting for Christmas. The only financially viable option which has been forced upon us by the unholy alliance of the Tories and Liberal Democrats is to vote for the £9,000 per annum increase. I simply cannot do that because, unlike the Lib Dems, I will stick with my principles. I guess the only option I have is to abstain.