Brighton and Sussex universities will charge highest amount in fees (From The Argus)

Brighton and Sussex universities will charge highest amount in fees

11:00am Wednesday 13th July 2011 in News

The universities of Brighton and Sussex have been given the goahead to charge £9,000 a year tuition fees.

The Office For Fair Access (OFFA) yesterday approved plans for both organisations to charge students the highest amount allowed from 2012.

In return, the University of Brighton will spend more than £5 million a year supporting students from non-traditional backgrounds at university.

The package, which includes fee waivers, bursaries and other forms of financial support, could reduce fees by £4,000 over the length of students’ courses.

The university will also invest £2.8 million in outreach work with local schools and colleges.

Degree courses delivered by the University of Brighton at partner colleges will cost between £7,000 and £8,300.

Professor Julian Crampton, the university’s vice-chancellor, said: “In making the decision on fee levels we have taken into account a range of factors, including the real costs from 2012 of delivery of our courses, the fact that many require highly specialised facilities and equipment, the significant uncertainty as to the amount of future public funding the government will provide for our courses, the distinctive value of our courses, many of which are approved by statutory and professional bodies, our g rowing reputation for research excellence and our continuing popularity with prospective students.

“We have received close to 40,000 applications this year, making us the 12th most applied-for university in the country.”

The University of Sussex will also launch its First Generation Scholars scheme, which includes providing funding for every new Sussex student whose family income is less than £42,600 a year.

Under the scheme an estimated 800 students will qualify for a £5,000 financial support package, plus personal advice and guidance.

University pro-vice-chancellor Professor Clare Mackie said: “We want to ensure that all students eligible for grant support from Government also receive direct financial support from Sussex.

“We know from working with our students in designing this scheme that this support can make all the difference to talented, hard-working students from low-income backgrounds.

“We believed a cut-off at £25,000 for family income, which is the standard national requirement, would be just too low.”

The University of Chichester has been told it can charge £8,500 a year for courses.