University Fees

Once upon a time all universities in the West were set up to teach philosophy. Whether that be the Christian religion or philosophy of the Ancient Greeks. The subject ranges grew over the coming centuries through the enlightenment to the point where there were a wide range of Sciences and other disciplines, primarily stemming from the modern view to persue objective truth. Their purpose has remained consistant throughout the years in the persuit of Truth and Knowledge however in recent times this is being called more and more into question.

University Education Funding

Unfortunately for the majority of their existance Universities have been institutions where really only those with enough money and influence could go. Even basic education has only been widely available for the last few hundred years. Then with the initiating of free mass education, the balance started to shift. First of all those whose families had enough money to afford for their children to not leave home and work when they reached 16 and could allow them to continue learning until they were in their 20s could start sending them to university. Scholarships began to become more common allowing a wider background of people to go to university and finally the significant sponsorship by the state through state backed loans or abolishment of tuition fees altogether, the ability to access this level of education became almost truely universal in the UK. The final problem, which still somewhat plagues us now, is the ability for a child's parents to afford their living expenses for longer. Thankfully, with the availability of burseries and loans it's now less of an issue.

The benefits of this are potentially huge for a country. Through providing this level of education to a much larger demographic of the population, it creates an abundance of well educated people who will take part in further developing and growing the country's economy. The benefits to the individuals taking part are also great, offering a singificant improvement in wages for those smart and hard working enough to graduate. Removing the tuition fees breaks down class barriers supporting the mobility of more people in society.

Depending on where in the UK you live funding changes. In Scotland funding for the course is completely covered by the Scottish government with a fixed course fee. In England course fees are capped at £9,250 with the costs covered by the student. The costs are covered through a student loan backed by the government, personal finance or a blend of the two. There are benefits and issues with both schemes of funding. Students in England are likely to leave university with around £27,750 in debt for the study alone. The government for England also loan the student £9,203 for year for maintenance for a course outwith London (assuming they aren't living at home). The total debtfor a typical 3 year course assuming the student took the maximum loan is therefore £55,359.

The Scottish government on the other hand notionally fund up to £1,850 for a year at university however as will be blatently obvious the difference between tuition fees in England vs Scotland highlight that this funding would be insufficient. Thus it is made up by the SFC block grant to the university.

Scottish students' loans and bursaries are means tested with the loan available being £5,740 per anum for students from low income families (Annual income less than £34,000 per year) and £4,750 per anum for everyone else. Bursaries are on a sliding scale, with the poorest students getting £2,000 per anum with no requirement to ever pay this back. The loans, like in the rest of the UK, are payable only if the student earns over a set threshold, and the interest rate of the loan is pegged at inflation, making its relative value constant. The cost of the tuition at a Scottish university is £1,820 and this does not require to be re-payed. Taking an average Scottish student, their family probably will earn above the low earners threshold of £34,000 for the household. This would result in an anual cost to the Scottish tax payer of £6,570 per year, or £26,280 for the average degree in Scotland (typically they are 1 year longer than an English university degree due to not requiring the student to acheive A levels). Leaving a typical Scottish student with a debt of less than half of that of their English counterparts of £19,000 for a standard 4 years of study.

Why Should an Electrician Pay for a Sociologist's Degree?

It would seem obvious that the Scottish system benefits the students significantly but there are a number of things that must be considered for a truely fair comparison.

• In bost cases the loans are re-paid via the students income, either directly in the English student's case, or both indirectly, via income tax, and directly by the Scottish student. However, proportion of a salary that is taken as repayment in the English system is significantly lower than in the Scottish system leaving the graduate with more money to spend but a longer time to pay off the loan. The loan in both cases is not really counted for the purposes of a credit check for applying for a Mortgage so in effect the repayment is more like an additional tax than a loan with the associated liabilities.
• The English students get more per year. While this obviously increases their level of debt, unlike Scotland, it also enables students from poorer backgrounds better access to university education away from home (could you live on less than £6k/year?). The Scottish system favours those living in cities and arguably typically benefits students from wealthier urban backgrounds more and leaves the same geographical lottery to which university is within a suitable commuting distance to those from a poorer background. A typical arguement against this, is that in a loan based system a wealthy family can pay for the tuition giving an advantage to their children at the start of life. This is nonsense really as a wealthy family in Scotland would probably use the money somewhere else, such as buying a property for their child once they graduate, or allowing them to take the student loan as a low interest method of getting money to use as a deposit on a property (this happens alot)
• The Scottish tax payer is more likely going to have to foot the bill. There is still a risk that unpaid loans will cost the English government more, the plain truth is that at least some of the tuition fees will be repaid unlike for the Scottish government. This is directing resources away from healthcare and primary and secondary education where there is possibly more bennefit to those from less afluent backgrounds. This is further compounded by the Scottish students who do obtain degrees for subjects that lead them into high earning fields often leaving due to better salaries or more stimulating work elsewhere.
• The Scottish system requires universities to create spaces for Scottish students. As the government will pay less per space when compared with the system in England, universities have a far lower incentive to provide places for Scottish students and will favour other British and international students more for the higher income.

In summary it's almost certainly better to be a student and a graduate in Scotland (if you are not English or non-European) assuming you can make it!