Scottish graduates should pay a financial contribution says think tank

All graduates at Scottish universities should pay a financial contribution when they finish their studies, according to a think tank.

Reform Scotland also said students from EU countries should pay fees next year as the “survival” of the higher education sector is at risk from the coronavirus crisis.

The graduate endowment fee was abolished in 2007, meaning Scottish students do not have to pay anything towards the cost of undergraduate tuition.

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Fees are still charged to students from the rest of the UK and outside the EU.

A paper released by Reform Scotland said it is “fair” that graduates should pay back part of their tuition once they are earning the average Scottish salary.

Director Chris Deerin said: “Coronavirus has had a devastating impact on many areas of Scottish life, particularly those which were already under pressure before the pandemic hit.

“There is no better example of this than the university sector. Over half of our universities were already in deficit before coronavirus, and increasingly reliant on fee-paying students from the rest of the UK and the rest of the world to stay afloat.

“We would all like to live in a world where ‘free’ university education works for the universities, the students and the taxpayer. But it’s time to admit that it doesn’t.

“Demand on the public purse is high and only going to rise - our politicians should have the courage and the foresight to challenge some old shibboleths in order to prepare Scotland for the challenges ahead.

“There needs to be a better balance between the individual graduate and taxpayers in contributing towards higher education.

“Graduates should pay back a proportion of their tuition fee once they start earning the average Scottish salary.

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“This is fair because graduates on average earn more money throughout their lives than non-graduates, and it is also reasonable because those who never earn enough money to pay back their tuition will never have to do so.”

The paper says introducing fees for EU students next year would remove a cap on the number of Scottish students who can attend universities.

Entitled A Degree Of Fairness, the paper says that it would be “bizarre” for the Scottish Government to continue paying EU students’ fees after Brexit.

Mr Deerin added: “The levying of tuition fees has long been an intensely ideological and political issue in Scotland. It should be neither.

“This is about the survival of our university sector, including institutions renowned around the globe and essential to our economic future.

“To fail to redress the balance would be an act of national self-harm.”

MSPs were told last week that Scotland’s universities will take up to five years to recover from the financial crisis looming as a result of coronavirus, and universities minister Richard Lochhead said the Scottish Government may end the free places provided to EU students as a way to free up extra cash.

Scottish universities are internationally renowned, but face a massive drop in income as travel restrictions mean many international students will stay away next year, along with the loss of vital research funding.

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It is estimated that universities could lose anywhere between £380-£650 million in 2020-21.

Students from EU nations currently receive free tuition in Scotland because EU rules prevented them being treated differently from Scottish students.

Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland were charged fees as they are not from another EU state, but regarded as internal UK students. The UK’s departure form the EU means these rules no longer apply, but before the coronavirus pandemic the Scottish Government had pledged to continue funding EU students in 2020-21 in order to maintain student population numbers in Scotland.

Heriot-Watt university last week said it will remove a stone unveiled by Alex Salmond pledging free tuition fees.

The stone, installed on Mr Salmond’s last day as first minister in November 2014, is inscribed with the message: “The rocks will melt with the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scotland’s students.”

It was reported in 2015 that the Scottish Government had wanted the stone to be housed at St Andrew’s University.

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