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[Metarie]

There's been no final decision, but what do we think is the likelyhood of it happening?
It would mean that higher education is free, and although I believe everyone is entitled to a basic level of free education, if people make the choice to go to Uni or college I believe they should be charged for it.
I have a feeling that if the graduate fee is abolished then the student bursary will be too (which blows because it saved my skin more than once).

Umm...this is very badly written, I shall amend it when I am more sober.

[Dave]

Higher education is a business, and those providing educational services should compete in the marketplace to offer the best quality education for the lowest possible price. The only areas in which the government should be involved is in the training of doctors, dentists and teachers. Those should be reserved occupations wherein tuition is paid by the government, on the condition that the course is completed and that graduates spend a certain amount of time working in the public sector.

Bursaries should be within the gift of the bursar, be they a private or public body. The likelihood is that those applying for a bursary would be beholden to their benefactor and would be expected to repay the debt in kind.

I begrudge paying tax in order to fund a fellow adult's quest for self-advancement. I've already paid for their fourteen years of schooling, and in all likelihood I'll have to make a large contribution towards my children's expenses in higher education eventually. It's my money, I earned it, I'd like to have the use of as much of it as possible, please.

[Rachie]

The Lib Dems are supporting it so that on top of the SNP & Greens should be able to push it through I reckon.

On one hand I'm thinking "great, I'll only need to pay back my loan", on the other I did see the point of the graduate endowment in terms of putting money back into tuition and bursaries, so I'm not entirely sure what I think of this decision.

And as Dave points out it will be the tax-payer (i.e. not the students) who foots the £15m bill...

[Alkaline]

Fucking great!!! So not only did i have the misfortune of having to pay both Uni term fees and a graduation fee but now i've got to pay for everyone elses through my hard earned cash. Brilliant.

[daveofficer]

i think it's a great move and people should never have had to pay in the first place.

as for that age old argument from thatcherites and the like about your taxes paying for students to go to uni, it's ridiculous.

taxes pay for services to the benefit of the country and the economy as a whole. your taxes help subsidise loads of things you yourself don't benefit from that's the whole point of taxes. on the whole university graduates earn more than those less qualified and as such pay more taxes when they leave university so they do pay for their own education in the long run.

it's ridiculous how much of a stigma there is about paying taxes in this country. try living in scandanavia. higher taxes should mean better services and a much higher standard of living yet we're all so determined to look after ourselves that we miss the bigger picture. scotland having one of the worst live expectancies in the developed world and some incredible levels of poverty. if this means that we can get more people into university and keep them in scotland(declining population remember) then that can only benefit everyone, including you stingy tax whingers.

[Paulscoconutass]

I'm with Mr Officer on this one. Despite so many historic and geographical similarities between Scotland and the Nordic states it's insane how different our lifestyles are in terms of quality. Since their economic recession in the mid-90's the tax isn't even that much higher than the EU average, but they still manage to attain significantly higher standards in pretty much everything (although for reasons of competitiveness the scope of their 'nanny state' has been slowly decreasing).

The only catch I learnt about their free educational system was the phenomenon of the 'Eternal Student', i.e. people that are still studying at the age of 30+, doing degree after degree. If this was addressed I don't see why the abolition of fees wouldn't benefit everyone.

[scottyboy]

when would it come into effect?

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by daveofficer

i think it's a great move and people should never have had to pay in the first place.

as for that age old argument from thatcherites and the like about your taxes paying for students to go to uni, it's ridiculous.

taxes pay for services to the benefit of the country and the economy as a whole. your taxes help subsidise loads of things you yourself don't benefit from that's the whole point of taxes. on the whole university graduates earn more than those less qualified and as such pay more taxes when they leave university so they do pay for their own education in the long run.

it's ridiculous how much of a stigma there is about paying taxes in this country. try living in scandanavia. higher taxes should mean better services and a much higher standard of living yet we're all so determined to look after ourselves that we miss the bigger picture. scotland having one of the worst live expectancies in the developed world and some incredible levels of poverty. if this means that we can get more people into university and keep them in scotland(declining population remember) then that can only benefit everyone, including you stingy tax whingers.

No.

I don't have a problem with paying taxes, i have a problem with allocation of my tax money. I don't see why i should help subsidise a person whose family earns in excess of £50000 a year through university. If their parents can afford to send them to university then they should pay. If they can't then they shouldn't have to pay. It should be a lot fairer than it is. My parents couldn't afford to put me through university so i had to pay for it myself taking out ridiculous loans to pay tuition fees and then stump up a graduation fee at the end (they had more than £5000 off me in the end). I have to pay those loans back eventually, why should i suffer further so more rich kids can have it easier?

I don't give a rats ass what happens in fucking Norway, i don't live there.

Do the math Dave, do the math.

[Tam o' Shantie]

Let's face it, only people who studied at uni are capable of earning decent money and in turn contributing their taxes to society...how could an ignorant, obviously stupid and unmotivated bum like the type of people who don't bother with university even get a job scrubbing toilets in a gambling shop? It's these people that are sucking all the money out of society, so we need to encourage as many people to get degrees to redress the balance. And if this means making life a little easier for them (it's a pretty tough environment to be in) then put it on my tab!

[stuartmaxwell]

meh its a give and take thing. you pay your taxes and pay for students etc but then other people pay taxes to subsidise for say......the repairs to the road in your street, yet they never use your street. etc do you resent paying taxes for the nhs last year even though you or your family didnt go to hospital?

we all had to take out big loans (nearly 20k) and pay tuition fees if we overstepped the four year mark. and it is merely a set up cost for your career.