As Labour hikes university fees to £9,535 in England for the first time - how do tuition costs compare with the US and Europe?

University tuition fees for domestic students in Britain remain thousands of pounds more than in other major European countries - but still well below the cost in the US.

The Government has said tuition fees for domestic undergraduates in ENGLAND will rise to £9,535 per year after eight years of being frozen at a maximum of £9,250.

The current £9,250 cost is the same in WALES, while in NORTHERN IRELAND it is £4,750 for Northern Irish students or £9,250 for other Brits. In SCOTLAND, university tuition is free for most Scottish students and £9,250 for other UK students.

Only a handful of other European countries offer free university education, including Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and GERMANY. In the latter, the countrys 16 states abolished tuition fees for undergraduates at all public universities in 2014.

Now, all domestic and international students can study in Germany for free, paying only a small administration fee - but the Baden-Wurttemberg area is an exception, where students from outside the EU are charged €3,000 (£2,518) per semester.

University education is similarly low cost in FRANCE, where most public institutions are state-funded and students have to pay only an annual registration cost and other nominal fees which add up to €175 (£147) per year for an undergraduate.

The price in ITALY is slightly higher, with tuition fees at public universities ranging from €500 (£419) to €4,000 (£3,356) per year. 

However, this varies depending on the course and family household income – which is assessed to determine the fee level.

The starting point for domestic students in SPAIN is higher but the range of fees is smaller, with tuition fees for an undergraduate degree between €800 (£671) and €1,200 (£1,007) a year for EU students at public universities.

This however can go up to €8,000 (£6,715) for non-EU students at private institutions or business schools – while a masters degree can cost up over €10,000 (£8,394) a year.

But while studying in Europe may be much cheaper for domestic students, university courses in AMERICA can be significantly more expensive than in Britain.

Average tuition fees were split into four categories in the most recent College Board report, with the lowest of $3,990 (£3,074) found at the two-year public colleges and the highest of $41,540 (£32,007) at the private non-profit four-year institutions.

Universities in the US differentiate between in-state and out-of-state students when calculating tuition fees, with international students part of the latter group.

Public four-year degrees cost an average of $11,260 (£8,676) in state or $29,150 (£22,461) out of state.

In Britain, university leaders have warned of significant financial concerns as a result of frozen tuition fees paid by domestic students and a fall in the number of international students.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told MPs yesterday that the fee rise had not been an easy decision but it was necessary to secure the future of higher education amid financial challenges. 

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson (pictured) told MPs yesterday that the fee rise had not been an easy decision but it was necessary to secure the future of higher education

Students at the Technische Universität Ilmenau in Germany (file image). The countrys 16 states abolished tuition fees for undergraduates at all public universities ten years ago

She announced that maintenance loans would also rise in line with inflation in the 2025/26 academic year to help students facing cost pressures.

The tuition fee and maintenance loan rates will apply to new students and those who are continuing their studies from 2025/26.

The Education Secretary also said the Government wants to look at whether the threshold for paying back tuition fees should rise in line with inflation but were not making that change now as she outlined plans for reforms to the sector.

The National Union of Students said students were being asked to foot the bill to keep the lights and heating on in their universities and to prevent their courses from closing down amid the crisis.

Earlier this year the University and College Union (UCU) warned that universities faced catastrophe if they were not given an emergency rescue package by the Government.

Jo Grady, its general secretary, said the tuition fee rise was economically and morally wrong.

But Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, which represents 141 universities, said the Governments decision was the right thing to do.

The previous government raised the cap on university tuition fees in England to £9,000 per year in 2012, but it has been frozen at £9,250 for domestic undergraduate students since 2017.

The 3.1 per cent rise to tuition fees and maintenance loans is just for the 2025/26 academic year, and the Department for Education has said longer-term funding plans for the higher education sector will be set out in due course.

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