Reducing arts fees could hurt science, PM warned

THERESA MAY has been warned not to cut the cost of arts degrees because it could lead to fewer people taking more expensive science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) courses.

The Prime Minister yesterday launched a major review of higher education funding and pledged to overhaul a system which is “stacked against” working-class children.

But the review’s focus on improving value for money and the suggestion that the cost of some degrees could be cut has prompted concerns that it could actually damage social mobility because disadvantaged students could be incentivised to apply to study cheaper subjects. Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary, said: “We want everybody to feel that all careers are open to them and if those who are struggling to afford university in the first place feel ‘I am not going to do a STEM degree because it is going to cost more’, ultimately it is the country that will suffer.”

Damian Hinds, the current Education Secretary, said the Government was not necessarily advocating differentiating between arts and STEM subjects. However, he did suggest that the cost of a degree should be linked to its worth to an individual and to society.

He told the Today programme: “I don’t think it is as straightforward as just separating arts from sciences. There is the cost to put it on, there is the returns to the individual and the returns to our economy and to society.”