Peter Mandelson

Go to university, get a degree then get a job. That’s what I was constantly told was the path many students took.

But as numerous students embark on their lives at Teesside University it is announced that although more students are embracing higher education the Government still seems to be in recession rescue mode by announcing million pound cuts to education budgets.

Places at universities being taken up are always on the rise, yet in his annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said university budgets would be slashed by £135m next year.

And to assert his money-grabbing status he also says that universities will be fined £3,700 for every student they take on next autumn above the new limit set by the Government.

This could force the university to reject a number of students who could have real potential to do something great with their lives.

Denying those students the right to study could result in them joining the ever increasing queue at the job centre – a situation caused by the current economic crisis which the Government is still struggling to handle.

In addition, universities have been ordered to consider “fast-track” degrees that can be completed in two years rather than three.

The ability to deliver more with less time will be a compromise and although the workload would be daunting it may be beneficial to mature students. A two year degree would see more students in and out of university.

The UK’s future prosperity depends on the students who are in higher education, as at the risk of sounding cheesy they are the future, they are the ones who are going to be running this country.And hopefully they’ll do a better job than those running it at the moment.

Earlier this year the Government proudly announced additional university places, with funding from HEFCE rising by 10% in 2009-10.

MPs have now backtracked. But are they considering the consequences of their actions?

The tight-fisted Labour party appears to not want to be in Government with its cost cutting tactics.

And of course the Tories wave their arms in the air like schoolboys trying to get the attention of the teacher, attempting to score brownie points with voters by vowing to make another 10,000 university places available.

But what about all the people who want to go to university?

If more students are given places than are allowed, the fees will probably rise to accommodate the increase, further angering the students who are already begrudgingly racking up over £3,000 in tuition fees every year.

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