Should Student Loans be Scrapped?

there should be student loans but fees should be capped at £3000 odd or what they were before they were tripled by the current government.

however, under the current system its completely unaffordable for the state to be funding hundreds of thousands of people to do worthless degrees in sub standards universities - and thats why they have had to pass on the cost to the students themselves.

it was madness by the labour government to shovel more and more people who should be instead pointed towards doing jobs that there is a shortage of like plumbing. degrees have been devalued and we all know who to blame for that....

the scottish, welsh and northern irish government are funding EU students to take subsidised degrees, they should be charged international rates, its disgusting that people from england pay more than people from poland to take a degree in a welsh university.

finally, if you pay £3k student loan repayments on a salary of £30k, your salary for tax purposes should be £27k and not £30k.

thats my view on the situation........

In Scotland, EU students do not pay a penny in tuition fees, like Scottish Students. However, students from the rest of the UK have to pay £9,000 in Scotland, which is grossly unfair.

Reply 81

A Mysterious Lord

20

Original post by CelticSymphony67

In Scotland, EU students do not pay a penny in tuition fees, like Scottish Students. However, students from the rest of the UK have to pay £9,000 in Scotland, which is grossly unfair.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to this if Scotland votes for independence - the UK would become just another EU country and there'd be no grounds for the Scottish government to refuse free tuition for English students.

Northern Irish students have it fairly easy as they can just apply for an Irish Passport.

Reply 82

CelticSymphony67

12

Original post by A Mysterious Lord

It'll be interesting to see what happens to this if Scotland votes for independence - the UK would become just another EU country and there'd be no grounds for the Scottish government to refuse free tuition for English students.

Northern Irish students have it fairly easy as they can just apply for an Irish Passport.

Unfortunately for me, they have now closed the Irish Passport loophole. They now work out what fee you pay from where you live, not nationality. I was going to apply for Scottish University's, as I hold a Irish Passport, but I was told the loophole is now gone :frown:

.

You are right though, if Scotland does become independent, it will open up a whole new can of worms

Reply 83

MatureStudent36

5

Original post by A Mysterious Lord

It'll be interesting to see what happens to this if Scotland votes for independence - the UK would become just another EU country and there'd be no grounds for the Scottish government to refuse free tuition for English students.

Northern Irish students have it fairly easy as they can just apply for an Irish Passport.

Yes, our university fees for undergarduates are free. Although to achieve this, we have a poorer service elsewhere. NHS Scotland is a great organisation but it's one of many area' that is being hit to subsidise the SNPs bung to the middle classes with free university education. At teh same time the working classes route out of poverty, college, is having its fundung cut.

Reply 84

shaymarriott

9

Original post by jsmithy11

The UK is supposed to be a capitalist, free market economy yet the government is subsidising the cost for people to go to university for a free 3 year party. I think that if people want to do something that is not nessesary for survival then they should pay for it with their own money. This would stop people for going just because they don't know what else to do and also make people have to work to get there rather than scrounge of hard working tax payers.

I personally did not take out a student loan because I don't believe in taking other peoples money. My parents (who have worked hard their entire lives) paid for me to go instead.

Thoughts?

Get a ****ing grip - people pay back their student loans. The key is the word 'loan'. Grants equalise the opportunity to go to university so it isn't full of the financial elite. If your parents paid for you to go to uni (most people's parents couldn't do this!) then (a) I hope you'll pay them back, and (b) lucky you. It makes **** all difference to your degree, you just won't have a loan to pay back.

If your question is simply directed at the grant aspect of it - why shouldn't those who's families can't afford to send them to uni be penalised? You need to go back to uni and understand that a loan gets paid back, and then start saving - I imagine you owe your parents a lot of money.

****.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 85

woodchuck

12

Original post by MatureStudent36

Capping the fees at £3000 still means the the government has to fund £6000 of your course fee's. And when I say the Government I mean the taxpayer.

if you arent shovelling tens of thousands of people through pointless media degrees then:

A) its much more affordable to cap fees at £3000
B) people graduate with good degrees that will help them get work and more than pay off that £18k investment into you by the government

to Jsmithy

'The UK is supposed to be a capitalist, free market economy yet the government is subsidising the cost for people to go to university for a free 3 year party.'

i dont know if you've been under a rock for the past few years but the goverment has tripled tuition fees, for the majority, the people will be paying for their 3 year party and not the tax payer. yes the money is loaned, but you cant escape paying back a student loan. unless of course you disappear back to poland without a trace!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 86

BleakRSP

There is a basic and fundamental problem, Loans of 27 thousand are taken straight from the government and given to the universities. We are expected to repay them, but after 40 years they are written off, with graduates earning up to 30 thousand on average after 10 years. And only 9% of that income taken after 21 thousand is made, a huge amount of money is lost. This is going to be the major cost to the government over the coming years.

Reply 87

Psyk

16

Original post by BleakRSP

There is a basic and fundamental problem, Loans of 27 thousand are taken straight from the government and given to the universities. We are expected to repay them, but after 40 years they are written off, with graduates earning up to 30 thousand on average after 10 years. And only 9% of that income taken after 21 thousand is made, a huge amount of money is lost. This is going to be the major cost to the government over the coming years.

I don't see how this will end up costing the government more than it did before. When tuition fees were lower (or even further back, when there weren't any), the government were funding the universities directly. They didn't get any of that money back except through the taxes that graduates would hopefully end up paying.

Now the government subsides university courses less, but instead gives a loan to the student to pay for the course. If they pay any back at all, the government is better off than it would be otherwise (not taking operating costs of the loan system into account though).

As far as I'm aware, the cost of university education per student has not suddenly shot up. Sometimes people don't understand that the government was funding university education anyway, so if someone graduates and never pays any of their loan back, the government ends up paying the same amount they would have if there were no tuition fees.

Reply 88

CelticSymphony67

12

Original post by BleakRSP

There is a basic and fundamental problem, Loans of 27 thousand are taken straight from the government and given to the universities. We are expected to repay them, but after 40 years they are written off, with graduates earning up to 30 thousand on average after 10 years. And only 9% of that income taken after 21 thousand is made, a huge amount of money is lost. This is going to be the major cost to the government over the coming years.

Not really. The direct funding the government is giving colleges and universities has dropped through the floor. Most of the funding they are getting is now from the students, through fees. Also remember that in the long run, the government is making money from the student loans through interest.

Of course, there are a lot of students who will not pay all of the money back, especially mature students who really do benefit from student finance. However, considering how much the government has cut direct funding to universities, and the big drop in numbers over the last five years, the cost of higher education will not be a problem for the government.

The UK government pays out £1.5 Billion a year in student finance. Don't get me wrong, that is a lot of money. However, compare that to the housing benefit bill of £21 Billion pa and the tax credit bill of £31 Billion pa, they have bigger things to worry about.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 89

Libtardian

15

Posting about capitalism on a student forum....lol good luck.

They want everything handed to them...

Reply 90

minimarshmallow

18

Original post by otester

Posting about capitalism on a student forum....lol good luck.

They want everything handed to them...

Yeah, because the OP didn't have anything handed to him, did he?

Reply 91

Iron Lady

Original post by minimarshmallow

Yeah, because the OP didn't have anything handed to him, did he?

Receiving money from parents is different to the taxpayer though.

I agree it's inconsistent.

Reply 92

minimarshmallow

18

Original post by Iron Lady

Receiving money from parents is different to the taxpayer though.

I agree it's inconsistent.

He can make a case that we should only get loans and not grants, and they shouldn't be written off. But he (and the other guy I just responded to) can't say that they don't like taking other people's money or being given something for nothing. If you want to go down the 'other people's money' route, you better have worked and saved for your uni education yourself.

Reply 93

elisabethr

Original post by madders94

I'd feel a little bit ashamed if I had to go to my parents and ask them to pay it outright; university is about standing on your own two feet. There are some people at my uni whose parents pay for accommodation and also give them £60 a week to buy food etc on top of getting one of the lower amounts of loan and grant, and personally I wouldn't feel like I was being truly independent.

I totally agree with this, fortunately for my family they earn enough so I'm only eligible for a small loan. However it isn't enough even to pay for the cheapest possible accomodation at my university. Which I think is a shame as I don't have the option to be truly independent as even though I've saved and worked up some money, I've got to ask my dad for money. :frown:

that does make me feel a bit ashamed.

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Reply 94

Mattheatre

Original post by privat

No, but student finance england should.

I'm all for this

--
~Mat~
Student at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Reply 95

ed-

13

The threshold for repayment is likely being lowered to £18,000. That's good enough for me

Reply 96

CelticSymphony67

12

Original post by ed-

The threshold for repayment is likely being lowered to £18,000. That's good enough for me

Why?

Reply 97

ed-

13

Original post by CelticSymphony67

Why?

Why what?

Reply 98

ed-

13

Also, I'd like to add - seeing as it's a loan, not a grant, I think the idea of means testing is ridiculous

Reply 99

CelticSymphony67

12

Original post by ed-

Why what?

Why would you like to see the repayment threshold lowered? I was on the old system for the first time I went University and I had to start repaying at £15,500 pa. Whilst this was quite low, what they did was reduce the National Insurance payments you make, so that would soften the blow, so to speak.

Should Student Loans be Scrapped?

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