What is paid for by Tuition Fees?

Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute found that under half of the tuition fee paid is spent on the cost of teaching, the rest goes on buildings, IT and libraries, administration, or welfare. They said that students should be given much more information about how their fee is being used. 

A breakdown from Nottingham Trent per student showed:

• 39% spent on academic staff, course equipment and staff-related costs 

• 36% spent on buildings, libraries, IT, sports, careers, admissions, staff, administration and widening access to poorer applicants 

• 17% invested in "enhancing teaching, research infrastructure and the student experience" 

• 8% spent on professional services, including marketing, finance and the vice-chancellor's pay 

The research also showed that universities can have very different levels of dependency on the current £9,250 annual tuition fees. Tuition fees were only 15% of income for Cambridge, but at Falmouth it was 83% and Nottingham Trent was 81%. The Office for Students said: "We can identify and will act when they are not transparent about value for money or are not delivering strong enough outcomes for students or taxpayers."  [source: CES newsletter]