[sdenton4]

You know what works even better to up the system to people from diverse backgrounds? Direct payment of tuition costs by the government. It's well documented that the rising tuition has reduced access for people from lower income families. Students have no power to negotiate tuition costs with the politically entrenched adminstrative class. Politicians, on the other hand, would have the power and career training for that kind of negotiation.

[jiggy2011]

In the UK increases in tuition fees (by up to 3x) has had no effect on the diversity of university applicants. This is because repayments are income linked (and have an income floor) so that a graduate on a low income makes no repayments at all. Only those who earn a large salary will make significant repayments.

If tuition is funded by the government then this will force those without a university education to subsidise those who do go to university. Also university places would have to be limited to control costs.

[TheOtherHobbes]

What's your source for this? The HESA stats at

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/pis/urg

suggest there was a slight increase in the percentage of lower-middle and working class students in 2012/13, but this was set against a drop in total UK student numbers of around 6%.

Those are the most recent numbers I can find. They don't break out the details.

>If tuition is funded by the government then this will force those without a university education to subsidise those who do go to university.

There's absolutely no reason why this would have to be true. There are plenty of other possible income sources, not least a much less tolerant attitude to off-shore tax avoidance, raised property taxes and the removal of loopholes that support tax-exempt foreign trusts, and taxes on quick-flip investment speculation.

The UK is actually swimming in cash. It's just not very evenly distributed.

[dataminded]

Are these public schools with 3x tuition increases or private schools?

[irremediable]

FWIW, nearly every university in the UK is a "public" university. And yes, it was those that experienced the 3x tuition fee increase.