What is wrong with tuition fees!?!

I dont really see what the big fuss is about. I do understand that Ideally education should be free but then, what about the NHS with its foundation hospitals or the standard of the state school system. I mean, I went to a greater london borough school with a record 18% of A*- C, were teachers were beaten up and lots of other terrible things happened.
From my understanding of the tuition-fees debate, the government has proposed the idea that, you dont have to pay it back at once but over a period (all depending on how much you earn). That you wont have to pay anything after 20 years (just heard on the BBC news), and if you dont earn above £15000 you wont have to pay anything at all!!
Plus it will all go to better facilities for the unis, and enable unrepresented students with potential to go on to the top universities. Isnt that what we want?..............................
However, opponents argue whether poorer students should be supported on the cost of middle class students and other little arguments which are still unclear to me.

what do you guys think?

Reply 1

JSM

The government is trying to get more people to go to university, but is then trying to get people to pay for it. Why should we pay for university, Scottish universities wont charge money and they are funded through england as the Westminster parliament is still in charge of Scottish taxes. The biggest problem is that the government is saying that it wants to give people options but then wants to charge people money to go to university, in my opinion either everyone should be charged or no-one should, so what if your parents earn over £30,000 per annum, maybe they have to support more kids than other families.

Why should you pay for further education, why do university funds have to be ringfenced, the NHS can have more money shovelled into it, why cant universities?

Even more so, why should you pay money for this education when you will most likely pay more in tax than those that dont graduate from university anyway, so you will fund it already.

Reply 2

nikk

15

There is absolutely nothing wrong with tuition fees. In fact they are incredibly low when you look at the fees some univerisities in America are charging (up to $40000 a year).

Reply 3

claire1985

It is just another scheme that has been introduced by the government to detract from the fact their policy is failing. If they want to get 50% of school leavers into education, they should provide incentive for middle class students; most of them cannot afford to fund themselves and will end up in debt unless their parents help them out. This is unfair to both the students, parents and universities because all will lose out when students drop out due to finances.
To be paying back govt for the education they encourage you to have for 20yrs + is just absurd.

Reply 4

JSM

NikNak - y does the US having high fees justify the UK having high fees. Your government is currently Rewpublican and as such has given you tax cuts whereas we just get tax rises (notice NI increases, its all stealth tax). We pay more taxes so we dont want to haveto pay for anything. For example most Americans dont qualify for free health service, everyone in England does. We have a different government structure (a better one) and are less consumer driven than you. Even though our economy is becoming more polarised with America.

Reply 5

nikk

15

JSM

NikNak - y does the US having high fees justify the UK having high fees. Your government is currently Rewpublican and as such has given you tax cuts whereas we just get tax rises (notice NI increases, its all stealth tax). We pay more taxes so we dont want to haveto pay for anything. For example most Americans dont qualify for free health service, everyone in England does. We have a different government structure (a better one) and are less consumer driven than you. Even though our economy is becoming more polarised with America.

I am British and live in Cornwall lol. I only know because I was looking into the possibility of studying Medicine in America.

You arguement is pretty stupid because the people who have to pay the tuiton fees are unemployed teenagers - it doesn't matter if America has lower taxes than us, the 18 year olds still need to find massive amounts of money. We should think ourselves lucky that our fees are so low.

God save America!

Reply 6

JSM

You arguement is pretty stupid because the people who have to pay the tuiton fees are unemployed teenagers - it doesn't matter if America has lower taxes than us, the 18 year olds still need to find massive amounts of money. We should think ourselves lucky that our fees are so low.

hello you pay the fees back when you earn over £15,000, its not upfront, neway they are also saying that you wont have to pay them back if you never earn over £15,000. So I dont think its stupid

Reply 7

brasil85

I am not worried but working class will be put of going Uni. We will end up with only the rich and middle class at uni.

Reply 8

lou p lou

2

JSM

The government is trying to get more people to go to university, but is then trying to get people to pay for it. Why should we pay for university, Scottish universities wont charge money and they are funded through england as the Westminster parliament is still in charge of Scottish taxes. .

just thought i'd point out that people who live in Scotland don't have to pay tuition fees- but the unis do charge non-Scottish students. because the unis make you do an extra year in Scotland (they start a year earlier), english students won't have to pay for their last year, but they will have to pay for the first 3 years.

lou xxx

Reply 9

JSM

brasil85

I am not worried but working class will be put of going Uni. We will end up with only the rich and middle class at uni.

we tend to have that anyway, but seeing as the middle class is the largest and fastest growing class anyway . . .

Reply 10

a_musical_git

£3,000 per year is simply not enough. I expected the government to raise tuition fees to £7,000 or more. Students have an easy ride.

Reply 11

NickNack

1

a_musical_git

£3,000 per year is simply not enough. I expected the government to raise tuition fees to £7,000 or more. Students have an easy ride.

Thats incredibly naive frankly. the less-well off potential students are already being dissuaded by the top-up fees as it is. raise it by another £4,000 and the problem will get worse. Even though student debts and fees dont have to be repaid until your earning something like £12,000 a year after leaving, not many people want debts reaching up to £20,000.

Reply 12

JSM

thanks for the clarification loopy lou - lets hope that the bill is defeated by a larger backbench revolt. Although it is a bit unfair (West Lothian Question) that Scottish MPs votes count despite the fact it wont apply to their constituencies (they can earn brown nosing points with tony)

What is wrong with tuition fees!?!

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