Member News
David Lammy has said the Labour Party wants to see "more and deeper roots" into higher education.
The education minister said there were very good reasons for higher education to be placed high on the agenda for the conference.
Speaking at an event hosted by the National Union of Students and Million+ on Sunday, he said Labour would stand firm on its commitment "not just to widening access but to ensure fairer access".
"I think that in my negotiations with the Treasury, I will constantly seek to say that higher education is absolutely centre stage for the future economy of this country," he told the fringe meeting.
He stated that despite challenges and claims from the media, more young people than ever before gained places at university this year.
And Lammy recognised the "interesting contribution" from the NHS in relation to the graduate tax.
NUS president Wes Streeting noted the importance of the topic at this stage of the electoral cycle, and looked ahead to the review of university fees and how higher education is funded.
He warned: "I think the Labour Party is in grave danger of losing some of the crucial dividing lines it has with other parties on higher education."
But he praised Labour for allowing more people to benefit from higher education than ever before.
Streeting also said it is a "great shame" that a "dodgy consenus" between the frontbenches is keeping the issue of high education funding out of the headlines ahead of the general election.
Labour PPC for Streatham, Chuka Ummuna, argued that for economic prosperity and to compete with India and China, the UK must get it right on higher education.
He said he was struck by how "fiendishly complex" the student finance system is, while student debt acts as a "deterrent" preventing those who want to study from gaining a degree.
Les Ebdon of Million+ spoke of the application of market forces to higher education and the "controversy" surrounding top-up frees.
He called on Labour to adopt a platform which will "win another term for a government and party that despite hiccups has reversed two decades of underfunding for our universities".
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd