The University of Cambridge has become the country’s first university to publicly acknowledge plans to charge students the maximum fee level allowed, starting 2012.

The revelations became public after an internal report by Cambridge’s working group on fees was leaked. The report asserts that it would be ‘fiscally irresponsible’ for the University to charge any less than the maximum £9,000 and insists that even at this fee level, the institution might experience financial predicaments as the university would be ‘carrying the burden of a significant loss per student’.

Prior to the MPs’ decision to vote in favour of higher education spending cuts last year, it was made clear in the House of Commons that Universities would only be allowed to charge £9,000 under ‘exceptional circumstances’. Naturally, after reviewing this, the findings of the report have come as a big shock to many as they make it ruthlessly plain that Cambridge intends to make the £9,000 fee grade the norm: “The level of tuition fee charged from 2012 entry should be the maximum permissible, i.e. £9,000 per annum with any subsequent adjustment for inflationary increases.”

The University’s line of defence is also of particular interest as it rationalises that settling for lower fees might risk putting Cambridge’s reputation in jeopardy as this “might raise questions about our commitment to excellence since a reduced fee in the long term could only be sustained by reducing costs and hence quality” . The report further justifies its decision by stating that it expects ‘most, if not all’ other universities to follow Cambridge’s lead. This statement also happens to be in perfect coherence with Aaron Porter, the NUS President’s comments, when questioned about Cambridge’s decisions.

“It comes as absolutely no surprise that Cambridge University intends to charge students the maximum amount it is permitted to […] We can now expect a race to the top as universities rush to gain kudos by joining the ‘£9,000 group’ as quickly as possible. How long before the most expensive universities start asking for the freedom to charge even more?”

To counter the inevitable problem of students belonging from poor backgrounds being ‘put off’ from applying, Cambridge has announced its own fee waiver and bursary plans, according to which students belonging to households with an annual income of less than £25,000 would be offered a £3,000 fee reduction, hence resulting in a net £6000 fee per annum. A bursary of £1,625 has also been declared which would proportionally decrease and taper down to zero as household income increases from £25,000 to £42,000.

With the deadline (31st march) for submission of Universities’ 2012 fee structures looming close, it is expected that many Universities will follow Cambridge’s footsteps and announce their fee decisions in the coming weeks. Oxford University have also initiated their fee-fixing process this past week by organising a debate between academics and the University governing body and have hinted that they will opt for the maximum as well.

As expected, the situation has resulted in growing tensions and an exponential increase in the amount of parents expressing their concerns over their children’s future. A recent survey conducted on a total of 3000 people by ING Direct found that up to 10% had increased the amount they were saving for their children’s University expenses, with a further 13% going as far as setting up a ‘University fund’.