FE Colleges

This really interesting article points to the process by which FE Colleges (many in our rural market towns) might take on an enhanced role as players in the HE market. Fascinatingly it posits the view:

“A growing number of school leavers will sign up for further-education colleges offering degree courses because they charge less, said Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Oxford, Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts exam board. His comments were echoed by university lecturers’ leaders last night. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: “There is a real danger of many institutions charging fees just to make up the shortfall from the slashing of their teaching grants.” Many further education colleges are fixing their fees at less than £6,000 a year – the figure beyond which providers need agreement with the higher-education access watchdog, the Office for Fair Access, to charge more. Students will do foundation degrees with the colleges before finishing their degrees with better-known universities. In addition, the Open University, which is planning to charge £5,000 for courses, will pick up student numbers once the rest of the sector is able to charge up to £9,000 a year.”

Could this herald the decline of the “average university” and the rise of an Ivy League of FE providers of HE courses? And if so might some of them not be based in key rural service centres? An interesting thought!