Willetts says top earners will pay more for degrees...

Higher earning graduates can expect to pay more for their degrees in the form of a "progressive and fair" contribution that could introduced as early as next September, a government minister said yesterday.
The universities minister, David Willetts, outlined government proposals to transform higher education in a major speech today, which suggested that bright teenagers from poorly performing schools could be headhunted to encourage them to apply to the best universities.
Willetts said universities needed to more emphasis on teaching, and urged institutions to cut costs, saying the number of senior university managers had risen to more than 14,000 last year while the number of professors to 15,500 – a trend that could lead to managers outstripping academics this year.
The Tory minister told an audience of university vice-chancellors that the government believed graduates who go on to lucrative should pay more. A report earlier this week suggested that Lord Browne, who is looking at university finance, will reject graduate tax in favour of letting universities raise tuition fees to £7,000. That could prove divisive for the coalition government, as 55 Liberal Democrat MPs have signed a pledge to vote against an increase in fees.
Willetts said: "I do believe it is better the younger generation to have the chance of going to university – and then pay for that out of the higher earnings they achieve later on – rather than experiencing poorer quality HE or being deprived of the opportunity altogether. This has to make sense for young people."
In remarks made after the speech at Cranfield University, Willetts said the government was considering graduate "contribution" rather than a tax, because of fears that the latter could encourage potential high-fliers to study abroad.
He spoke of "a graduate contribution that is progressive and fair, not necessarily a full-blown tax".
Willetts added: "A full-blown tax, which is not what the coalition is proposing, in its extreme form, would mean that because you've been university, you pay a percentage of income for the rest of your working life."
"The risk is that people who in high-paid jobs in medicine or in business would have a tax burden that meant they looked, for example, at studying abroad."
Changes to student finance could come into force by next September, Willetts said.
The minister's remarks come at a time record student numbers. Latest figures show this year's student intake will be 463,000, which is 11,000 more than last year.
However, the share of public spending British higher education is 0.7% of GDP, below the developed-country average of 1%, with Britain lagging behind the US, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Poland and Slovenia.
Lord Browne is duepublish his findings in the coming weeks, just ahead of the government's comprehensive spending review in October, when universities are expecting deep cuts.
Professor Steve Smith, president of the vice-chancellors' umbrella group Universities UK, warned the government against squeezing university funding.
"My worry is that we may be about to make decisions that fundamentally undermine our future capacity to be a globally competitive knowledge economy," he said.
The government plans publish a white paper on higher education, Willetts said, which will lead to a bill by autumn 2011. It is expected to look at broader questions including the status of universities and the distinction between universities and further education colleges.
The government keen on the idea of distance learning, gives students the chance to save money by living at home. It is also interested in students doing university courses at a local college, with degrees awarded a more prestigious institution. Reforms such as these could be implemented, if parliament approves, by the start of the academic year in 2012.
In his speech, Willetts also expressed concern about the numbers of bright children from struggling schools who fail to go to the best universities – estimated at 3,000 a year.
"I am particularly keen to do everything possible to identify and encourage the so-called 'missing' 3,000 teenagers who get good qualifications, often from poorly performing schools, but do not go on to our most competitive universities."
Willetts said he had asked the universities colleges admissions service, Ucas, to track the routes young people take through education, and identify teenagers who were missing out.
He told reporters: "We believe we can identify – based particularly on their GCSEs, but not that alone – high-performing teenagers who have a good shot at some of our most competitive universities, but don't apply. Why is this happening? It may be personal choice, but they may not be aware of what's out there.
"A competitive, research-intensive university in the region could write to Joe Smith or Jill Smith and say, you've got good GCSEs, you're at a school where even kids with good GCSEs are not likely to apply to university – have you thought of coming to our summer school? Have you thought of coming to engineering department? At least to encourage them to think about applying."
Willetts also called for a "renewed emphasis on teaching" at universities. He said institutions that downplayed the importance teaching students were "in danger of losing sight of their original mission".
He added: "It remains hard to shift the impression that what really counts in higher education is research. This needs to change."
The president of the National Union of Students, Aaron Porter, welcomed proposals for a graduate contribution.
He said: "Our position is quite clear, that we want a genuinely progressive graduate contribution based on earnings, the institution or subject. David Willetts is moving in the right direction. However we do need to see much clearer detail."