Comments for Paying for higher education at http://www.adamsmith.org , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.adamsmith.org Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:45:48 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/education/paying-for-higher-education-200805121354/#comment-203 The odd thing I found when I was a student was that those who most wanted university to be 100% tax-funded was the various left wing groups, particuarly the Socialist Workers. I never understood this, as you rightly point out, to do so is to take money from non-university educated working men and women, and give that money to students. In recent years the system has been improved: now student loans and fees are paid back over the course of a graduate's working life, which seems very fair to me. It also seems to me that there are two things putting off poor youngsters: 1) the perception that they "cannot afford it" - which is largely just a perception based either on prejudice or a lack of understanding of the way the fee/loan/payment system works and 2) a general feeling that university isn't the right move for them. I am not sure if these two factors can ever been fully solved by state intervention, though various kind-hearted schemes that see university students going into inner city schools to help spread the word I suppose are a way forward. But I question Tony Blair's assertion that 50% of the population attending university *nolens volens* is somehow of instrinsic benefit to the whole of society. - Alex Marsh Mon, 12 May 2008 15:52:12 +0100 http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/education/paying-for-higher-education-200805121354/#comment-202 By paying higher taxes for education you can certainly get the most benefits from that university - Marius Mon, 12 May 2008 14:53:12 +0100 http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/education/paying-for-higher-education-200805121354/#comment-200 In order to justify public funding, there must be a clear and direct relationship to the public good. Most students are barely benefiting themselves, let alone the public. Many businesses that genuinely need graduates, such as the NHS and PWC, already offer to pay for their employees to go to university -- this rational and very efficient economic act would be expanded if 'higher' education was not so fat with 'students' already. The relationship between the degrees most students are currently receiving and the work they will be doing as graduates bear a very tenuous relationship. - Graham Mon, 12 May 2008 12:00:28 +0100