Danger of Top-Up Fees

Letter to the Editor, published in the Scotsman June 7, 2006.

As an American postgraduate student in Edinburgh, the recent debate over top-up fees sets off warning bells.

The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, argues that students must contribute to the cost of higher education; however, if this gets out of hand, the United Kingdom will begin to resemble the United States, where bankruptcy-proof student debt has created a class of indentured servants, owing tens of thousands of dollars at the starts of their careers.

Millions of others cannot afford higher education, or drop out because of the pressure of full-time work and studying.

I would urge the people of Scotland to take a broad view and seek both public and private sector support for their universities, rather than increasing fees and becoming the victim of a race to the bottom with England.