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conservative reforms of higher education offer not only savings but also greater opportunity and equity, said David Willetts

There are three clear lines of attack on the government's reforms of higher education that I have seen, at least not in the Guardian Education pages. The first assertion is that we will eliminate public subsidies for higher education. The second is that we are explicitly trying to copy the American system of higher education. The third claim is that we are reductionists who appreciate the arts and humanities than science.

higher education can not be completely isolated from the savings to deficit reduction. Therefore, in the future, the main beneficiaries of higher education will have to pay more in fees, but only where they can afford to do so and with a loan system more progressive. This does not mean that the taxpayer is retiring from higher education. Approximately one third of the money they lend to students will not be reimbursed by the protections built to protect low-income workers. The maximum award bursaries to students from low-income families will increase. We will continue to provide grants to universities for teaching materials more expensive and vulnerable, too.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the effect will be to have 60% of the costs of higher education funded by taxpayers and 40% from private sources, 40% funded by taxpayers and 60% from private sources. This is not a scorched earth policy. It is estimated that the total income of university education could increase by 10% between now and 2014-15. And none of these figures include the £ 4.6 billion a year of science and research budget, which was set for the next four years.

A key element of reform is the distribution of available resources so keep students' decisions more closely. We, for example, the liberalization of controls on the number of students that are imposed on each institution. Ensure that funding follows the student is not a radical new idea. It is in line with the recommendations of the three major reports of higher education after the war - the Robbins Report of 1963, the Dearing Report, 1997 and Browne 2010 Report

Many critics of the coalition say they are so dazzled by the United States that we want to impose their system of higher education in England. There are, of course, parts of the country's university system would do well to emulate - which are world leaders in the production of research, knowledge transfer and attract foreign students. But there will always be very important differences between our higher education sector and theirs. For example, the U.S. lack of global financing arrangements for our students, our excellent quality assurance system and our goal is to increase participation.

In my travels around the world, it seems that policy makers, academics and others interested in learning more about our plans to reduce the deficit, protects the number of students and offer more support to the neediest students at the same time. We will continue learning the best evidence from around the world as our reforms take place and as we prepare our next innovation and research strategy. However, the policy tends to be reciprocal, and I expect other countries to closely monitor our reforms and learn from them when they try to provide more opportunities and more justice.
. David Willetts

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