Confirmed: Cheaper degrees at Leeds Met
Leeds Metropolitan's vice-chancellor, Simon Lee, has unexpectedly secured the backing of its Board of Governors to introduce top-up fees below the £3,000 maximum. From 2006, fees will be around £2,000 across the board.
As we reported earlier this month, Leeds Met was one of a handful of universities seeking to buck the trend and charge lower fees when the government's new funding regime comes into effect, but Mr Lee did not expect to be able to get the plans past the university's Board.
"I am most grateful to governors for the confidence they have shown in our radical past, present and future," Mr Lee said. "The governors also agreed to further improvements and additions to our estate, including the purchase of another splendid city centre building."
The Students' Union is also supportive of Mr Lee's plans. "Leeds Met students were asked to voice their opinions on this debate through Student Senate and they felt that our University was not de-valuing its degrees by charging less than £3000," SU President Dave Hayes told yesterday's meeting.
"We believe that pricing people out of higher education would devalue our institution by not allowing such a diverse range of students to continue their education," he continued.
"The Students' Union is pleased to be working alongside an institution that is listening to the views of its students on such important issues."
Send this article to a friend