London Editor

The hike in tuition fees to £9,000 a year at Westcountry universities will undermine plans to revive the region's economy, it has been warned.

Central to tackling the region's low wage culture has been to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in higher education across Devon and Cornwall in the last decade.

Critics fear students will be put off going by Exeter and Plymouth universities, and Falmouth College, wanting to charge £27,000 for three-year degree courses from 2012.

Shadow Business Secretary John Denham claims the Government is "kicking away the ladders of opportunity" for young people through its reform of university funding.

The advent of the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) in 2004, which received huge sums of public cash, was seen as a turning point for the region.

Its founding principles were to stop bright youngsters fleeing the region, boost home-grown research and create high-paid jobs in emerging industries.

Mr Denham said: "Under the last Labour Government more students than ever were able to benefit from a university education, and we shared their aspiration.

"Investing in institutions like CUC to boost skills enabled people from all parts of the country to have access to high quality education wherever they live.

"The Conservative-led Government is kicking away the ladders of opportunity from young people in the South West."

Last year, the coalition Government voted to give universities the power to charge between £6,000 and £9,000 a year. The fees "cap" was almost trebled.

The move meant Government funding for teaching would be largely replaced by fees supported by student loans. Arts and humanities institutions have been hit hardest by cuts to grants.

In an interview with the Western Morning News last month, Universities Minister David Willets insisted institutions should only charge the maximum in "exceptional" circumstances.

Defending the government's reforms, he said: "It's cash for universities. It's students getting a higher quality education rather than losing places and having a mediocre university experience and it's good for the exchequer because the graduate pays."

Coalition MPs argue Labour would not have done anything differently, arguing it sanctioned previous hikes and commissioned the Browne review of university funding.

Ministers are said to be furious that around three-quarters of universities and colleges have already plumped for £9,000 a year.

Toni Pearce, president of the Cornwall College Students' Union, and vice-president elect for further education of the National Union of Students', said students were being given no choice, despite Government promises otherwise.

She said: "Quite often our students don't aspire to go to the very top universities. They want to go to Plymouth, Exeter and the West of England.

"But if they are charging the same as Oxbridge, they are just as out of reach in the minds of our students as Oxford and Cambridge have always been. It does damage their aspirations."

Economic productivity is among the lowest in the country in Devon and Cornwall. Hundreds of millions of pounds of EU regeneration cash has been spent in the Westcountry to reverse decades of industrial decline.

Many think the revival is being driven by businesses spun out of Exeter and Plymouth's campuses and colleges across Devon, and Penryn and Falmouth, among others, in Cornwall.

Clusters of business around the creative industries, technology and green energy are already creating new jobs.

Labour Cornwall councillor Jude Robinson said her son Barney, who was born in Falmouth, is in his third year of a broadcasting degree at the CUC's Penryn campus.

She said: "Like most people, I accept that students should make a contribution to their education but it isn't easy for young people even at the current level of funds.

"At £9,000 a year many students like Barney, especially in Cornwall, will just not see a university degree as an option.

"It's such as shame as the campus and the education there is fantastic."

Universities stress that students do not pay a penny upfront and that they do not have to repay loans until they start to earn over £21,000.

Former Labour minister Bill Rammell, who is deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Plymouth, which set its fees last week, said: "A degree from the university represents an excellent investment in our students' long-term future. Fees should be no barrier."