University and student's unions today attacked plans to double tuition fees which would leave graduates with tens of thousands of pounds of debt.

The National Union of Students (NUS) hit back at the report by Universities UK which said universities could soon ask for a hike in tuition fees and will tomorrow launch their own report into alternative funding for higher education.

In a possible blow to government attempts to widen access, a report published today by vice-chancellors indicates that students could soon graduate with £33,000 of debt in tuition fees alone.

They already accumulate about £15,000 in maintenance loans, taken out to cover the cost of living.

Such vast expense may well deter teenagers from deprived backgrounds from applying to university. Some may question the benefits of higher education, as growing numbers of graduates struggle to find work.

In today’s research commissioned by Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, economists predicted the likely costs and benefits of changes to the tuition fee.

The University and Colleges Union warned that the rise would damage plans to open up university to the brightest students, rather than just those who can afford tuition fees.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU said: “Increasing fees or the other financial barriers that so many students and parents come up against when considering university is certainly not the way to deliver a world-class university system.”

An independent review that begins later this year is expected to recommend that the current £3,000 annual fee is increased, or that the cap is completely lifted.

Vice-chancellors questioned by the report’s authors said, on average, that tuition fees should be set at £6,500 to “secure the long-term sustainability of undergraduate teaching.”

The report considered future scenarios of funding, and estimated that students starting university in 2016 would end up paying between £21,000 and £33,000 for their tuition fees.

This does not include loans taken out to cover living costs which, when factored in, could mean graduates easily leaving university more than £50,000 in debt.

Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said: “In the context of the current recession, it is extremely arrogant for university vice chancellors to be fantasising about charging their students even higher fees and plunging them into over £32,000 of debt.”

Less than a third - 29 per cent - of university students currently come from the poorest families but at Oxford and Cambridge the percentage is even lower - 9.8 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively.

The NUS will tomorrow lobby MPs for a higher education system that is free at the point of use and funded by graduates who contribute depending on how much they benefit financially from having a degree.

David Willetts, shadow skills secretary, welcomed the report. He said: “We do need robust information on the options for funding higher education, especially as the recession takes hold of people’s finances.

“But it is a shame the university sector has been forced to do the work themselves. Ministers are pushing their long-promised review ever further into the long grass.

"The student finance review should start now and be as comprehensive as possible. We are keen and willing to work with the Government on a bipartisan basis, but we cannot wait forever.”

Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat universities spokesman said: “It is no surprise that many of the vice-chancellors involved with this research would like to see tuition fees more than doubled. The conclusions would be very different if students’ views were considered.

“The Government must look at ways of easing the student debt burden instead of increasing it. It should publish its fee review before the next election, so all political parties can make their views know to the electorate.”

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