CUSU has organised a campaign to submit proposals to the Regent House, the highest governing body of the University, consisting of approximately 2,800 academics, to amend the University Council's proposals on bursaries and widening participation targets.

The proposals are being presented in the form of an amendment to a Grace already submitted by the Council and the submission of new Graces to Regent House. Submission of both the amendment and the new Graces require signatures of the members of Regent House, which include nearly all the fellows in the University.

One proposal, part of the amendment, will require the Council to demonstrate ‘the financial need for a fee level of £9,000 through a detailed report’ before the final decision to introduce the new home/EU fees is made. The amendment will also require the University to keep the current level of maintenance bursary spending.

Currently the Council has proposed a support package of £4,625 in form of a fee waiver and maintenance bursary to students from low-income backgrounds. The initial working group proposed that this sum to be comprised of a £3000 fee waiver and a £1625 bursary. However in the final proposals, the Council left out details of the composition of the maintenance package in terms of the fee waiver and bursary, allegedly due to CUSU campaigning. CUSU is now attempting to increase the bursary component of the maintenance package arguing:

“Fee waivers mean that Cambridge can say that for the poorest students, the headline figure is reduced to £6k-7k a year. It must be remembered that this figure for tuition fees will depend entirely on how much a student earns once that have graduated. Having money in their pocket is something which is of much greater significance to students once they have started at university.”

Concerns regarding misconceptions prospective students have about Cambridge lifestyle and the inability of students to work part-time due to academic workload are the reasons for CUSU's emphasis on the maintenance bursaries.

The new Graces proposed by CUSU ask the University to set a minimum budget for support packages and access initiatives of £14 million (or £12 million if the £14 million proposal fails) instead of the ‘approximately £10 million’ figure proposed by the Council. Another Grace is being proposed that the ‘within the “achievable” 61–63% range proposed in the Council’s Notice of 23 February 2011, the University sets internally a higher figure for the proportion of UK undergraduates  it aspires to be able to admit from state schools or colleges.’

The deadline for submission of the amendment was 2 March and the deadline for submitting the new Graces is set for 9 March. CUSU is campaigning to urge students to find academics to sign the petition forms for the proposals.