Vice-chancellors are getting down to the fine details in their fundamental review of funding for universities, writes Alan Thomson.
Draft models of a number of options are almost complete, but several were added to the list put to the vice-chancellors' annual conference two weeks ago.
They will be measured against 23 criteria and will have to satisfy access requirements, be acceptable to students and parents, be equitable, raise revenue for universities, uphold quality and standards, maintain institutional diversity and be cheap to administer.
The options include privatisation, full-cost tuition fees and a graduate tax. There is speculation that a single model will not satisfy all criteria and every institution's mission.