Tuition fees aren't working. The IFS calculated that 70% of graduates who left university in 2015 are expected to never fully repay their tuition loans. Graduates will be in debt for 30 years. Crucially, any short term savings to the public purse will be cancelled out.
Worse still, tuition fees and loans fuel inequality in the long term. Students with rich parents can leave university with less debt, and will find it easier to get a mortgage and a headstart in life. Poorer students are left with more debt, growing with interest of up to 4.6% - and therefore less able to save and invest in their future. The cycle of socioeconomic inequality continues.
Education is not a commodity to be bought and sold. It is a right which should remain be free at the point of need.
Higher education:
- Benefits our society, our economy and boosts our international competitiveness.
- Is a public good which empowers people with the skills to challenge injustice, find truth and make change.
- Is a right which is essential to uphold our democracy, so that decision-making on national policy isn’t left to a privileged elite.
Let’s stop this cycle. If you recognise the value of higher education - for yourself, your children, of the society you live in, sign this petition.
