gizmo wrote:The fact that Scottish and Welsh students do not pay towards their education is a completely different argument, would you be happier if they did?
I think it is very much part of the argument.
No, certainly not, to your second statement but the division in what is supposed to be a UNITED kingdom is a blatant one. Scots would be quite rightly jumping up and down if the roles here were reversed.
gizmo wrote:£9000 is the maximum that can be charged.
Yeah and only a few will take advantage of it
Seriously, I'm not saying it should be free but it needs to be FAIR.
Isa, as you know, LEAs paid students' tuition fees until Blair’s government passed a new education act which introduced tuition fees of £1,000 in 1999. The previous maintenance grants were replaced with repayable student loans for all but the very poorest students. Scotland decided to abolish these tuition fees for Scottish students studying at Scottish universities (although because of some EU rule, anyone in Europe but not England also gets it free too if they study in Scotland). Then the Welsh government gave their students a tuition fee grant and this year told them they would not have to pay the extra amount imposed by this new government. Oh to be living in Wales or Scotland!
In 2004, they increased it to £3,000 for English students. As a result, billions was owed by English students. Also (and I believe that in an ultimate act of irony, the student loan company is based in Glasgow and employs thousands of people, you couldn’t make it up!) of all the dozens of people I know with student kids, there are reports of great difficulties with loan processing, late payments, etc. – it really is a nightmare dealing with them. In fact, this year the one in charge of it all – on a salary of around half a million – was forced to resign over the sheer chaos of it all.
So, students have to apply for a loan of £3,300 per year for tuition. The government has now voted this week to raise the cap to £9,000 per year. Students can also apply for a maintenance loan to pay for their accommodation and living costs while at Uni – around £3,500 and more for London students. So when they graduate, they are going to be in debt to the tune of £37,500.
Once the student starts earning (not sure of the amount but think it is £15,000) the repayment is then taken out of their wages with an interest rate at 1% above the Bank of England base rate. It’s a myth to suppose that graduates will all earn big money so when they are earning a half-decent wage they will never be able to afford to go on the property ladder as they will be paying back their loans.
In a nutshell, fees have gone from £1000 to £9000 in 10 years and it depends on where you live as to how much you will pay. My middle son has applied to Glasgow for 2011, the same year as his nephew. My son is facing £27,000 debt and his wee cousin, zilch. We either pay taxes to support education or we don't. Gizmo reckons we shouldn't have to pay for these students but my taxes are going to Scottish students and our own children are paying £9,000 a year! Sorry, that is definitely part of the argument.