AIBU to think that it would have been fairer to introduce a graduate tax than increase tuition fees

[Tryingtryingandtrying]

As it stands most graduates effectively pay a graduate tax for most of their working lives. Exceptions to this are those who do not earn enough, those who pay themselves minimum wage out of their own businesses and those whose parents are wealthy enough to pay fees up front as well as all living costs. A graduate tax would mean everyone who benefits from university education contributes, instead of those on middle incomes paying the most of all.

Yabu - it was better to increase tuition fees
Yanbu - a graduate tax would be a fairer way to fund university study

No. It would not be fair or a desirable place to live to tax any further.

We already have a graduate tax. It’s called the income tax system.

Paying tuition fees on top is just double charging, increasing them is just another spiteful example of the current politics of envy.

No it would be stupid to have a graduate tax. Most taxes are designed to be paid by people who make the right choices. Further encouraging people to continue to making bad choices and have someone else pick up the bill.

People studying Mickey Mouse degrees at university will never earn enough to pay the graduate tax. While those studying in demand and worthwhile subjects will continue to pay for their everyone else’s hobby degrees.

If you want to go to university and study nonsense so-called degrees, pay for it upfront. Or don’t go.

But people studying mickey mouse degrees never pay back student loan either

And driving them into further poverty with an additional tax will work how?

The current student loan system is effectively a graduate tax as people with higher incomes pay higher repayments.

I'm a bit confused how an official graduate tax would be differently? Unless you mean it would be forever not just until their loan was repaid?

YANBU.

It's not fair that investment bankers and hedge fund managers end up paying less for their university education than engineers and civil servants.

YABU for not understanding that they are two very different things. Tuition fees are paid to the college. Tax is paid to the government.

This has been looked at in the past I believe; political currency podcast with George Osborne and Ed Balls did a piece on it. if I remember rightly, you run into issues around definitions and also tracking people effectively. There is no ‘graduate’ status as far as HMRC is concerned (you’d need to be in the tax system as a graduate in order to be charged the right tax) so that would need to change. Basically is administratively difficult and there are some grey areas .

Sorry to quote the op 😬

Yes but the tax could be used to funds the universities in the OPs suggestion.

The reason it’s a loan not a tax already, is because with a tax you can just leave the country and permanently avoid it.

Whole thing out of control though - an extra 9% tax rate for the next 40 years over what is now minimum wage… how can a 17 year old make that decision?

And much of the time the degree isn’t relevant to the job.

I would rather only 15% of teenagers went to university as was the case when I went and that we had fewer universities. Given I have funded 5 children at university without loans I would be pretty cross if we all had in effect to double pay

I dont like the idea of a graduate tax as the current system does have a supposed end point and I don't really see why one graduate has to pay for another graduate.

I also think the current system means the university a student picks gets the funding. With a tax, politicians could chose different priorities for funding. Which I know could mean a paternalistic limiting of choice away from bad choices, but I dont think that always works.

They could also just decide that the 1% tax is now a 5%, 20 years down the line.

And if it's like other taxes, they could end up not ring fencing it anyway.

The issue is that wealthy families are able to pay the least for university education by paying the fees straight up and avoiding the repayments and interest for their children. Some people pay many many thousands more than others and not because they earn the most money

That would cost money. So the colleges would lose. The point in raising the fees is to raise funds for the university.

What is the point of a costly bureaucratic delay?

I would rather only 15% of teenagers went to university as was the case when I went and that we had fewer universities.

unrealistic in a world where so many employers demand degrees.

@MidnightPatrol can you not avoid loan repayments by leaving the country too?

I am sure there would be a way to ring-fence graduate tax if they wanted to, or to guarantee funding in someway

What do you class as a “Mickey mouse” degree.

I suppose another way to look at it would be to ask who would be put off going to uni if a graduate tax was put in place? Who is put off going to uni now with student loan system?

@MaryBeardsShoes I was replying to someone else without clarifying what they mean which i should have done. My understanding would be courses with little chance of changing life chances, very few hours per week of study?

In other countries higher education is considered to be a good thing and "making the right choices". It's just here that staying in education is considered to be a negative thing.

You do understand that a banking and finance are a significant part of the UK’s GDP?
You, personally, may not rate their profession, but they do contribute.

Perhaps the employers need to change?

Degrees really are not necessary or relevant to a lot of careers. They now do the job that A' levels and similar used to do - just signal to the employer that you have some brains and are not completely lazy.

I think society would work better if only 5% of people went to university, and the norm was to get a good technical or practical qualification whilst working from age 18, basically apprenticeships for everyone.

I'm not saying they don't contribute, I'm saying it's unfair that people who just scrape into the higher rate tax bracket end up paying more for their education than people who are on six figures by the time they're 25.