Regent House, composed of around 2800 academics, yesterday passed the proposals to charge £9000 to new EU/ home undergraduates from 2012, with a support package of £3500 for students from low income backgrounds, in spite of an ardent 'Non Placet' campaign. The plans were approved with 1,387 votes for and 416 against.

The University will now submit an access agreement to the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). OFFA can then choose to reject the proposal, though it is expected that they will not.

Professor Steve Young, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor explained: “This agreement will include the commitment to spend £9 million a year on financial support for Cambridge undergraduates from 2012, in addition to the Government’s loan and grant schemes.

“Cambridge is committed to providing students with one of the highest levels of financial support during their studies at our world-class University.

“We will also commit to spending an extra £1 million to expand our outreach work which aims to help raise the attainment and aspiration of state school pupils. This is in addition to the £2.25 million a year which we already spend on outreach activities.”

A spokesperson for the University added:  "We estimate that by 2012/13 when the new fee regime takes effect, the proposed £9,000 student fee would cover little more than half the average cost of teaching an undergraduate at Cambridge."

The £3500 support package will be in the form of bursary or fee waiver as desired by the student, and is available in full to students whose family incomes are £25,000 or less, and tapers to zero when family incomes are £42,600.

The original proposed amount for the support package was £4,625 but in the form of £3000 fee waiver and £1625 bursary. However after student campaigns, the support package was reduced to £3500, though with the introduction of an additional fee waiver of £6000 for students from very poor backgrounds or with special circumstances, such as those on free school meals and those severely disabled.

The Regent House vote passed in spite of bitter opposition from a number of academics. Dr Priyamvada Gopal, Dean of Churchill College, who campaigned for ‘non placet’, commented:

“This is not, as the University is claiming, a 'mandate' to raise fees. This is a vote that was achieved by a combination of deliberate misinformation, a weighted and inappropriately framed ballot as well as administrative irregularities which included Heads of Departments being asked to write to their subordinates and colleagues asking them to vote Placet. This is not just a blow for future generations of students, but also to self-governance which has been profoundly undermined by the way the ballot was conducted.  The university needs third-party observers for future Graces and ballots if  there is to be any probity in the process. The role of CUSU in enabling this outcome is also deeply regrettable.”

Dr Jason Scott-Warren also commented, "This vote was a meaningless exercise in rubber-stamping, which was forced through". He added "The net result of all this is that the University has rolled over before a government which has made savage cuts to its funding (even Oxford has protested, while we have said nothing). We can look forward to seeing the new system collapse over the coming months and years."

Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, however, assured that: “The University of Cambridge is committed to recruiting the brightest and best students irrespective of their background. No UK students should be deterred from applying to the University of Cambridge because of financial considerations and no students should have to leave because of financial difficulties.

“Cambridge has one of the highest retention rate of students of any UK university and its graduates benefit from an extraordinary quality of education and employability.”

Graces submitted by CUSU to increase the support package spending will be discussed next week. One Grace is to increase the support package spending to £14 million a year, and another Grace in case the first one fails is to increase it to £12 million.