Should the next government abolish tuition fees?

Poll

Should the next government abolish tuition fees?

MPs have said that the student loan system has reached a "tipping point", and there'll be a black hole of £330 billion in 30 years time.

Labour are saying the "new tuition fee regime" has failed. There have been quite a few posts in this forum, including this one, which have called for a return of intellectual elitism back into education which would allow fees to be abolished.

Other evidence suggests we should be nurturing as many children into universities as possible, given the rising amount of graduates across the world, and the need for us to keep up with this "global race".

I'd abolish tuition fees tomorrow and introduce a simple graduate tax. What would you do?

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Reply 1

james22

I'd suggest a graduate tax of 10% of all earnings over 21k.

Reply 2

Numberwang

Original post by james22

I'd suggest a graduate tax of 10% of all earnings over 21k.

Good suggestion - but that to be most effective, you'd hope that degrees will better correspond to the graduate job market in the future, which at the moment is underfilled!

Reply 3

SophieSmall

I voted no because someone has to pay for university, though I do like the idea of a graduate tax instead of a **** tonne of debt. I do think fees are far too high though.

Reply 4

ChaoticButterfly

What annoys me is that the baby boomers constantly give my generation **** when they had free uni education and can retire much sooner than I ever will be able to.

Reply 5

TheTechN1304

I voted no. Honestly people, you cannot just expect the government to give you everything you want. I agree that they're too high and should maybe be lowered, but it shouldn't be up to the government to provide you with free higher education. The money to pay for it has to come from somewhere, and the only way that would be possible is with higher taxes.

Reply 6

username33685

Original post by james22

I'd suggest a graduate tax of 10% of all earnings over 21k.

How is a graduate tax in any way better than student loan payments? A student loan will be paid off one day, a tax will have to be paid for as long as you are earning, so you will ultimately pay many times more than the cost of your loan.

Reply 7

MidnightDream

I don't think fees should be abolished but lowered

Reply 8

james22

Original post by rich2606

I know, I'm making the point that student loans aren't really loans, they are just graduate taxes that end if you pay enough. Many people in real life agree with me that a graduate tax of 10% of earnings over 21k would be better than the debt, even though it is worse in every possible way (you pay 1% more and it never ends).

Reply 9

Trustno1

Lower tuition fees!!!!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 10

Shelby95

I don't think fee's should be abolished, but they should be reduced.

Reply 11

tengentoppa

Of course not. Higher education is a privilege not a right, if you want something pay for it.

And it would not mean university would be "free", it would just mean everyone pays for it rather than the graduates who benefit from it. Doesn't sound fair to me.

There really is an entitlement culture that the government should provide.

Reply 12

andrew2209

The problem with the system is that there's not a system in place to deal with the considerable number of students who simply won't pay off their student loans, because they won't earn enough.

Reply 13

LaughingKitsune

If the fees can't be abolished, what they should have is a system where a university and course is priced based on quality and the university itself (with a fee cap, of course).

For example, a high-end course at the likes of Cambridge could end up as £9,000, while something less regarded, such as a low-quality arts course may have lower (trust me, I've been on a low-quality arts course, not worth £9,000).

Honestly, I don't think degrees should be bought, but earned.

Reply 14

Rakas21

Original post by Numberwang

While i'm normally for individual responsibility i would agree that a graduate tax would be superior given the ratio of graduates to jobs and expected income growth will produce a black hole. With that being said i do believe there should be rigger and a 'cost' so i'd probably have an independent body moderate A levels in such a way that nobody achieving below a threshold could enter higher education (scrapping all grades below a C for example) since the abolition of tuition fees could potentially lead to increased demand.