Marjon bucks trend and keeps fees below maximum

A university has become the first in the Westcountry to set tuition fees below the Government maximum, but has used up precious financial reserves in the process.

The University College Plymouth St Mark and St John, known as Marjon, will charge most undergraduates £7,800 for the 2012 academic year.

Three-quarters of England’s universities, including Exeter and Falmouth, have already said they intend to impose the maximum £9,000 for at least some courses, against a current average of £3,735.

Marjon’s figure falls within the revised average of £7,500-£8,000 set by universities minister David Willetts, and below the average so far, £8,629.

College principal Professor Margaret Noble said she had struck a delicate balance between negatively affecting quality and unnecessarily adding financial barriers.

Prof Noble added that “significant strides to improve efficiencies” had been required to achieve the figure.

The vice principal of resources at Marjon, Karen Cook, added that being small – 3,900 students compared to Exeter’s 11,273 – had given more flexibility.

However, she said it had been necessary to reduce reserves from around 12 per cent of the £23 million turnover, or £3 million, to just 3 per cent.

“We have changed the way we offer the curriculum but not cut courses,” she added.

“Overall we took out £1.5m from the cost base, including two of the senior management team, all through natural wastage and voluntary severance.

“It was a really tough decision – you could say let’s go for £9,000 and improve what we offer, but we have asked how much does it genuinely cost to deliver.”

The Government is said to have been shocked by the number of educational institutions to charge a flat rate of £9,000, so far 49 out of 73.

Under the new funding arrangements, students do not need to pay fees up front with repayments for up to 30 years beginning when they are earning over £21,000, and increasing on a sliding scale.

But the prospect of being saddled with much larger amounts of debt could see about 8,000 fewer students enrolling at Westcountry universities, costing the local economy millions, according to a report this week.

University of Exeter registrar and deputy chief executive David Allen said he was confident students will continue to come here from all over the world, to benefit from “the high quality experience”.

Tim Jones, chairman of Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said the knock-on effect of falling student numbers in Exeter and Plymouth would be “massively detrimental” to the area.

According to the student money web site savethestudent.org a three-year degree priced at £7,800 plus the maintenance loan would land a graduate more than £38,000 in debt. Its online calculator predicts someone earning £40,000 would pay back around £51,000 or £141 per month for 30 years.

The University of Plymouth is the only one in the region yet to declare its tuition fees.