The FE sector argues that there is already a widening gap over funding with the universities.
A full-time place on a business studies course in a university qualifies for funding council support of pound;4,175 compared with pound;2,128 for the same course at college; for engineering courses, the equivalent figures are pound;7,100 and pound;3,191.
Support for college HE courses in these two areas has declined over the past eight years, while funding for a business studies place at university has increased from pound;3,577 to pound;4,175 and for engineering from pound;5,592 to pound;7,100.
