Students could face £7,000 tuition fees (Midlothian Liberal Democrats)

Midlothian Liberal Democrats <laird.ross@btinternet.com>

Students could face £7,000 tuition fees

October 20, 2009 11:41 AM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

There is now less than eight months to save a new generation of young people from huge increases in university tuition fees, according to Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh South, Fred Mackintosh.

He was speaking after the Conservatives suggested they will increase tuition fees to £7,000 if they take power at the next general election, which has to be held by next June. That will see tuition fees for undergraduates studying in England and Wales more than double. Currently there is a cap of £3,300 in England and Wales. There are no tuition fees for Scottish students in Scotland, but large numbers of Edinburgh school leavers go to Universities south of the border.Fred Mackintosh: Edinburgh South

Peter Mandelson has already suggested that Labour will allow universities to charge more than at present if re-elected - though the party is too scared to push through the changes it wants before June. Only the Liberal Democrats will scrap those tuition fees that remain in the UK.

Fred Mackintosh said, ""I look around Edinburgh South and I see people return from university with no job and a bank balance tens of thousands of pounds in the red. What sort of message is that?

"Labour and now the Tories are showing their true colours. They just want to saddle young people with staggering amounts of debt on graduation. The choice is clear: the people of Edinburgh South can vote for party which will condemn a generation of youngsters to greater indebtedness or for the Liberal Democrats who will make education free again, giving young people the best possible start in life."

The Liberal Democrats believe university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go - and not be put off by the cost. That approach motivated the abolition of tuition fees for Scottish students studying in Scotland in 2000.

Notes:

1) The National Union of Students estimates that the average cost of attending university now stands at more than £42,000. The average graduate will have accrued nearly £20,000 of debt by the end of a three-year course

2) For more details on the Tories' university policy see Daily Express, 15 October: "Student debt to soar as tuition fees could rise to £7,000 a year" http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/134074/Student-debt-to-soar-

3) For more details on Labour's university policy see Daily Mail, 28 July: "Liberal Democrats are the only party which believes university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go to university and not be put off by the cost." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1202408/Middle-class-face-7-000-tuition-fees-pay-poor-Mandy-warns-excellence-cheap.html