Why shouldn’t medics and engineers pay higher fees?
According to Lord Browne’s report into tuition fees a degree is now worth ‘just’ £2,500 a year to ‘graduates’. This equates to £100,000 over a lifetime, after tax. This figure, however, doesn’t include student debt. So, is university worth it, from a purely financial point of view when student debt is included?
Yes.
On average, students graduate with £20,000 of debt. This is repaid when your earnings reach £15,000. Effectively, as a graduate you pay a 9% graduate tax on all earnings over £15,000 until your student debt is cleared. So, let’s say you’re earning £22,000 a year in your graduate job, you will be paying back £630 a year. In fact, until you’re earning £43,000, the ‘graduate premium’ will outweigh any student debt repayments.
‘Aha!’, the critics may snarl. ‘So the current system penalises successful graduates?’ Well, no. It’s difficult to earn £40,000 a year without degree. Try becoming a doctor, lawyer or engineer without a degree. Their graduate premiums are of course higher. Plus, they pay back their student debt quicker.
The fact is some degrees are worth more than others. Putting an exact figure on how a much a ‘degree’ earns you is pointless. Engineers and medics, for example, will nearly always earn more than history graduates. My degree has less of a premium as it gives me fewer valuable skills. I can’t build bridges or perform surgery; I can sift through lots of data and read quickly.
How fees are paid for should reflect this. Expensive degrees, with lots of teaching like engineering and medicine, should have higher fees paid for by a graduate tax on high earning graduates. It’s unfair that arts student have to pay the same as science students for considerably less teaching and resources. Students with these more expensive, skills based degrees tend to earn more as a result. They should thus pay enough fees to cover the actual costs of their degree, if they can afford to. Should doctors and engineers earning large salaries not chip in a little extra for their education? If not why not?
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