Engineering news
Manufacturers fear that cutting tuition fees could reduce the number of students taking science and engineering subjects.
Amid speculation that Labour is set to announce plans to cut the £9,000-a-year fees to £6,000 if it wins the general election in May, the manufacturers organisation EEF raised concerns about the possible impact on science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects.
The EEF said applications to study engineering courses at universities increased by more than 8% in the years after the £9,000 was brought in by the coalition.
Verity O'Keefe, the EEF's skills policy adviser, said: "Six out of 10 of our members say increasing the fees has led to people making a more informed decision about which course to go on, and what kind of career and pay prospects it will lead to.
"If there is a cut in funding, where will universities get their income from. They are already struggling to expand engineering subjects.
"We need to double the number of engineering graduates and apprenticeships by 2022."
Labour leader Ed Miliband told the EEF national conference in London that the UK needed to train 160,000 engineers a year to meet the demands of business.
He said: "Today we are producing far fewer engineers than we need. If the trend continues over the next five years we will be faced with a shortfall of over 400,000 engineers by around 2020.
"We must turn this round. To do it requires more than a different policy, it needs a different way of doing things. Not on training and education for some of our young people, but training and education for all of our young people. In vocational and not just academic qualifications."
He added: "To address this problem, we have laid out a plan for vocational education in our schools. A new gold standard baccalaureate. So our young people know what they are aiming for.
"Work experience returned to the curriculum. Maths and English until 18. And when it comes to university expansion, focusing on new technical degrees at our universities."