Plans to charge English, Welsh and Northern Irish students up to £36,000 for a degree have been described as “regressive” and will ultimately lead to Scottish universities regarding an unfortunate minority as a “cash cow,” St Andrews University Students’ Association has warned.
Scottish seats of learning are set to raise millions of pounds a year from non-native students thanks to a huge rise in tuition fees unveiled last week.
Academics seeking education north of the border could face fees of up to £9000 a year under the Scottish Government’s plan. However, the move has been blasted by St Andrews student representatives.
Students from England have traditionally made up a substantial proportion of the intake at the Fife university. The students’ association fears the charging scheme will create a “dramatic disparity” in the fees students pay and, consequently, the debts they incur.
English, Welsh and Northern Irish students could have to pay five times their current fees for the education to which students from Scotland and the rest of Europe are already entitled.
Association president Patrick O’Hare has called for “wide-ranging engagement” in the government’s consultation on the measures. He also urged colleagues across Scotland to join him in highlighting the “flaws” in a system that will, he claims, prove to be “unfair and ineffective.”
Mr O’Hare said, “We are incredibly disappointed that, after promising a ‘Scottish solution’ the government has merely proposed a carbon copy of the Lib Dem/Conservative plans that (education secretary) Mike Russell rightly condemned during the election.
“Indeed, these measures are more regressive than the English equivalent because they do not include clear obligations for widening access, such as scholarships.”FairnessHe added, “Although we understand that St Andrews must maintain its position of academic excellence, in setting fees for English students the university must speak the language not only of pennies and pounds, but also of fairness and responsibility toward the English, Welsh and Northern Irish students who have long contributed magnificently to the character of this institution.”
Director of representation Sam Fowles said, “One of the facets of Scottish higher education of which we should be most proud is the diversity of our student body. Scotland boasts some of the most international universities in Britain.
“However, a policy which amounts to exacerbating the fiscal segregation of one group is a poor way to nurture this strength.”
Mr Fowles insisted the policy would fail to plug the funding gap facing higher education.
He said, “Mike Russell’s green paper, Building A Smarter Future, set out a range of funding options such as increased business and philanthropic contributions.
“While we would commend the education secretary for the diverse options which he originally brought to the table in an effort to tackle a problem of Westminster’s making, it is sad to see that these have been reduced to using an unfortunate minority as a cash cow.”