Higher fees won’t help Britain’s beleaguered universities much

For much of its time in opposition the Labour Party pledged that it would abolish university tuition fees, if only British voters would give it the chance. On November 4th, four months after returning to power, the party announced instead that it would raise a cap that holds down what universities may charge undergraduates in England. Next September, the maximum annual cost of tuition will increase in line with retail-price inflation for the first time in almost a decade. It will go up by 3.1%, to £9,535 ($12,400).