£300,000 for university chiefs but they want student fees to go up

by E Wayne Ross on March 19, 2009

Evening Standard: £300,000 for university chiefs but they want student fees to go up

UNIVERSITY vice-chancellors were condemned today for taking home huge pay rises as they demanded the power to charge students higher tuition fees.

In London, three vice-chancellors were paid more than £300,000 during 2007/08 after receiving what critics called “exorbitant” increases.

Five university leaders in the capital made it into the top 10 in the UK vice-chancellors “rich list”, compiled by the Times Higher Education magazine.

Across the country, the average pay rise for vice-chancellors last year was nine per cent taking salaries to an average of £194,000.

The details emerged two days after vice-chancellors called for undergraduate tuition fees to be doubled to £6,500 a year. They claimed that without more funding degree courses would have to be cut and Britain’s status as a world leader for research and education would be put at risk.