HEFCE releases figures on funding cuts for second degrees
Posted: 29 October 2007
The Higher Education Funding Council for England released figures on 12 October detailing how much funding it will be ending for students seeking 'second first degrees.' The cuts, ordered by Universities Secretary John Denham last month, will total £100 million, with the Open University and Birkbeck College, University of London, losing the most funding.
The Higher Education and Skills Minister, Bill Rammell, said, “First-time students have to come first.”
The Government is pursuing a goal of having 40 percent of the workforce consist of university degree-holders, and claims the cuts are necessary to achieve this goal. Higher education administrators claim that the cuts will damage colleges that are best situated to help adult learners achieve university degrees.