University funding

[onebyone]

If Lord Browne's plans go into effect, it seems likely that the four-year degree I took from Oxford will soon cost 24k at the very least, and perhaps more like 40k, in student debt for fees. What actually happened was that I graduated 10 years ago with 5k in student debt, none of which was because of tuition fees

Comments

Without trawling through the comments

[a_llusive]

Aside from the actual figures, just looking at the repayment proposals

Re: Without trawling through the comments

[undyingking]

The overseas aspect would be simply fixed by taxing all UK citizens as though resident, in the same way that the USA does. There are plenty of other good reasons to do this: residence overseas is the mechanism of all manner of large-scale tax avoidance.

Re: Without trawling through the comments

[a_llusive]

Well, EU citizens don't pay UK taxes anyway but have the same entitlement to UK universities as UK students - just as UK students can go to university in EU countries which don't charge their students at all, if they have the language skills. Taxing UK citizens resident overseas isn't a great help there

Re: Without trawling through the comments

[undyingking]

Mm, the EU aspect complicates things. Although presumably non-British EU people studying here aren't funded by the UK govt anyway, but by themselves or their own govt. Plus of course Scottish students are handled differently. But these are just accounting issues that needn't obstruct the principle

Re: Without trawling through the comments

[a_llusive]

presumably non-British EU people studying here aren't funded by the UK govt anyway, but by themselves or their own govt.

WRONG.
They are charged fees and get UK student loans on exactly the same terms as UK students (there is no cross charging scheme to extract the money from their home nation). Anything else would breach EU laws. But, as mentioned, on the same grounds where a EU government fully funds or substantially subsidises degrees in its territories, UK students don't have to pay any more then the host government's nationals.
Recovery rates on such student loans are far lower than of UK citizens student loans.

The tax scheme is (after all) projected for the government to front universities the fee money so they will be insulated from cashflow problems but that won't stop a large hole in that financing developing if recovery rates are poor. Given this government claims to be all about fiscal responsibility and not creating unsustainable funding models this seems odd.

Re: Without trawling through the comments

[a_llusive]

There are plenty of people who are actually resident overseas though.