Vince Cable set to propose graduate tax

Harry_Flashman

Idiophreak wrote: »

Not all students study to get a better job - and that's the way it should be. To be well educated is an end in itself.

That's fine - everyone should have the right to fulfil their curiosity - but NOT at the taxpayers' expense.

iltisman

This is the best idea I have heard for ages, good on you Vince. The tax could be fine tuned so that it hits the gash waste of time degrees harder.

ILW

lynzpower wrote: »

It should be income tax and nothing more. Why should someone who earns 50k without a degree pay less tax as someone who earns 50k with a degree? A punishment for bettering yourself is all it is.

Because the graduate has spent a lot more of the taxpayers money than the non graduate. They have not strictly "bettered themself" when someone else was paying.

FATBALLZ

iltisman wrote: »

This is the best idea I have heard for ages, good on you Vince. The tax could be fine tuned so that it hits the gash waste of time degrees harder.

But of course in reality what will happen is the complete opposite, no government has the balls to propose that people who do stupid degrees and go on to have low earnings should pay more tax than those who go on to have high earnings.

Idiophreak

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I totally agree with going to university for education's sake as opposed to job advancement.

I would be happy to fund university out of taxes for a reasonable proportion of the population (perhaps 20%) but I object to the idea that there is more than 40% of the population who would benefit from education at this level. It's this thinking that has led to watered down degree courses and the steep fall in educational standards.

There's always space for differentiation, though, whether that's just doing *better* course at a *better* university, or whether it's doing PG study. I think anyone who wants to learn more should be allowed to. If that means making "easier" degrees available, then sobeit.

The non-academic aspects of university are, for me, just as important as the academic sides - learning to be independent, mixing with people of different cultures, time management, self-worth etc. These apply to pretty much 100% of the population and I think anyone who wants to learn them should be encouraged, not discouraged.

Harry_Flashman wrote: »

That's fine - everyone should have the right to fulfil their curiosity - but NOT at the taxpayers' expense.

Why not?

Harry_Flashman

Idiophreak wrote: »

Why not?

Why should the population at large pay for someone else's wish for knowledge?

It's their choice, but choices have a cost and I really don't see why taxpayers should fund it.

Everyone is entitled to a basic level of education. Those who wish to better themselves should do exactly that - better themselves.

grubby23

Hopefully this tax does not apply to people that finish their degrees before the end of this year

alunharford

Lots of people saying that a graduate tax is like income tax... It isn't.

Income tax is paid on all income whereas a graduate tax is paid only on earned income.

Hence it's a neat way of raising tax for the people who have worked for it whilst not increasing tax for Dave and his cronies.

olly300

grubby23 wrote: »

Hopefully this tax does not apply to people that finish their degrees before the end of this year

It will be impossible to make it retrospective for a lot of reasons and for the same reason there are still 3 different versions of student loans being administered.

I thing one thing with a graduate tax is that the government could do away with the Student Loans Company completely. Saving some money there. Of course they would have to hire some more people in the tax office.

The real issue of why this is being purposed is how do we fund universities?

We have a problem that as a country we don't have the money to continually fund the now expanded higher education system. And the issue with student loans is that lots of people never pay them back.

neverdespairgirl

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

You can say the same with UK universities though.
I am a british citizen, as is my wife and my son.
The fact we live abroad and have done so for more than 3 years, means that if I were to send a child to University in the UK, he would be treated as a foreigner and would incur far greater costs.

Isn't the poor little sod a toddler, still? Give him a chance to learn to read and count first (-: