An Introductory Course to Blair’s School of Cost-Cutting

Oxford University is putting the squeeze on Kate Ravenscroft. It has withdrawn the first-year student’s electronic card, which gives her access to the library, and closed her free e-mail account. And her college at Oxford has given her an ultimatum: Pay up or get out.

Ravenscroft is one of a handful of Oxford students withholding payment of tuition in protest of the Labor government’s decision to charge for education at all British universities, ending free attendance with the current academic year.

Several thousand students from around the country are expected to turn out at an Oxford demonstration today.

“We’ve always had free education in Britain, and it is an important principle not to deny higher education on the basis of whether you can afford to pay for it,” said Ravenscroft, a history student at Oxford’s Somerville College.

Five students--from an original 100--are still refusing to pay tuition, holding out against parental and university pressure. The 18-year-old Ravenscroft admits to being “quite stressed” over her stand for free education.

“I am frantically trying to write an essay that is due at 3 o’clock, and I can’t think straight. I’m not sleeping and not eating,” she said. “But we’re trying to counter apathy. If you just keep quiet, the tuition will go up and up.”

By U.S. standards, the tuition is stunningly low: a maximum of $1,700 a year for any university in the country, even Oxford and Cambridge, with the government subsidizing additional costs. The tuition payment is on a sliding scale, with about 30% of students nationwide--those from low-income families--still paying no tuition at all.

University tuition is part of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s efforts to reduce the cost of government and shrink the so-called welfare state. Britons, like most Europeans, are accustomed to paying higher taxes and receiving more government support than do Americans. Until now, that has included free higher education and sweeping health-care benefits, but both are being cut back.

Oxford students say they understand that demonstrating against tuition at one of the country’s most elite universities risks making them look spoiled. But it draws attention to an important issue.

“We have accomplished what we wanted to, which was to bring this into the public eye,” said Ravenscroft’s colleague at Somerville, Frances Linehan.

Oxford responded first by sending out letters after the Jan. 11 deadline asking for payment, then by closing e-mail accounts and banning access to university buildings.

The students opened their own e-mail accounts and continued attending classes, but on Thursday they were threatened with full suspension.

“The university, Somerville and St. Hilda’s colleges have implemented measures or are prepared to take action in response to the nonpayment of tuition fees by a small number of students,” an Oxford spokeswoman said.

The students say they are unlikely to change the government’s policy on tuition but hope they have set the stage for bigger protests if the government goes through with plans to cut living subsidies--called grants--next year.

The students acknowledge that the end of their protest is near. The threat of suspension will force them to pay, as their colleague Kate Atkinson did when Balliol College threatened her. To make her point, however, the 19-year-old paid with 1,000 1-pound coins.

“I’m not prepared to push this to the point of getting kicked out of Oxford,” Ravenscroft said. “I’ve worked too hard to get here.”