Government ministers over 37 or so
Why not jack up tuition fees so students end up with a debt comparable to a mortgage even though your university education was free when you were students.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 12:31, 5 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

I think it's a good thing.
It will make them value their place and so they'll study instead of pissing it right up against the wall.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 14:23, Reply)

Never happen
It will just be rich kids pissing it up the wall instead.
( Peej, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 15:46, Reply)

and smacks of elitism.
dragging us back to the 1950s
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 18:13, Reply)

Oh come along
it's not like it's to fork out up front or anything, it's essentially a free loan until you are earning enough to be able to afford to pay it back.
How exactly is it comparable to a mortgage? I thought it was 9 grand a year now? How many students go to uni for 10 years or more? Or have house prices taken a sharp downturn in your area?
(Hairy Bob, Fri 12 Nov 2010, 19:25, Reply)

£9k pa covers fees
if you need a place to live - say £60+ a week outside London & living expenses, probably similar amount for 30 weeks per year*3 years, plus course materials (varies with course, obviously). Doing foreign language? (add on year abroad) Longer course (eg medicine, law) or PhD? All extra. Could easily be £50k and up assuming you're a teetotal, charity shopper who likes noodles...
Yes, you may go on to earn far more over your life than if you hadn't studied. But if you come from a background where half your total debt is an average yearly wage, I can imagine the prospect would be terrifying.
Also, if you do spend several years, perhaps most of your career earning slightly over the payback threshold (nursing, social work, education etc), accumulated interest will be far greater than if yout paid it off with your first few years £80k salaries, so it's regressive in nature.
BTW, I'm of an age where I paid no fees, got a grant, some of which I drank!
(sarcastic fringehead feet of clay, buns of steel, head of lettuce, Mon 15 Nov 2010, 12:18, Reply)