Graduates may have to pay for their education once they are working
The principal of a leading Scottish university has said that a graduate tax could be one way of helping to fund the country’s higher education sector.
Professor Anton Muscatelli believes the current fiscal crisis has emphasised the need for a fresh revenue.
He said up-front tuition fees were incompatible with Scotland’s philosophy of higher education.
But Prof Muscatelli has instead argued that those who earn more after graduating should contribute more.
He denied that the suggestion for a graduate tax or a graduate contribution was tuition fees by the back door.
The academic, who is on the executive of the umbrella body Universities UK, suggested that allowing the public purse to continue to pay the full costs of higher education was not sustainable unless the sector became a higher priority for funds.
In general, Scottish universities are concerned that cash problems may lead to them falling behind their counterparts around the world, notably in England where tuition fees are expected to rise.
Scottish students pay no charges at all for tuition.
Prof Muscatelli believes the time is right to consider whether students should make a contribution.
However, he insisted that if it happened it should be payable once students have graduated and are earning salaries.
Top priority
Scottish ministers have ruled out fees before graduation but they appear open to ideas regarding changes to university funding.
Prof Muscatelli said: “There is no reason to go down the route of tuition fees, up-front. It’s certainly incompatible with Scotland’s philosophy of higher education.”
He added: “Unless the public sector wants to make higher education a top priority then we have to look to other solutions and this could be either a graduate contribution or it could be a graduate tax. But we have to look at all of these alternatives.
“Graduate taxation would be a tax that applied only to graduates after they graduate and based on the ability to pay – and a graduate contribution would be very similar in some respects.”
Prof Muscatelli said some of the money from the graduate contribution might help provide bursaries for students who need extra help.
He went on to say that the debate was not for his university alone but for the country as a whole and “how it invests in higher education”.
The principal said Scotland currently had a level of funding which matched England but his plea for change was focused on the next five to 10 years.
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