Letter: Economic follies (2)

If it means recruiting the brightest 50 per cent of "poor kids" to join the brightest 50 per cent of "rich kids" at university, then Estelle Morris is right that expansion should not threaten standards ("Debt-averse poor force U-turn", THES, October 19), at least if properly funded.

If the poor kids are deterred by debt, however, and cash-starved universities are falling over themselves to attract the bottom 50 per cent of rich kids, conditions would indeed seem ripe for "dumbing down".

Richard Green

Department of economics University of Hull