Scottish Government Scraps Graduate Endowment

The SNP Scottish Government has voted to scrap the student Graduate Endowment – a £2,300 levy on graduates. The Graduate Endowment Bill published last October was finally passed through the Holyrood parliament on Thursday.

The campaign to scrap the Graduate Endowment ran right across the country which culminated with a lobby of Parliament by students on Thursday.

Commenting on the parliamentary decision to scrap the graduate fee Linda Fabiani MSP said:

“The SNP have always believed that Education should be free for all and not based on your ability to pay.

“There are nearly 10,000 students who are liable to pay the £2,289 fee and removing that will be a welcome boost to both them and their families.

“Too many of our young people start their adult life snowed under with debt and I am delighted that the Parliament has seen sense and given them this financial boost and reiterated our belief in the principle of free education.  

“No longer will our graduates be entering the work place heavily in debt before they have started earning a wage. 

“The Liberals introduced this tax on learning and the Labour Party gave us the mantra of ‘Education, Education, Education’ but it has taken an SNP Government to give us back the right to a free education that is accessible to all who have the ability.

”A disincentive has been removed for those wishing to go further with their education and the passing of this Bill means that students who graduated from June 2007 onwards will not have to pay the endowment fee.

“This Bill has been supported by student bodies who know first hand the difficulties that were caused by the Graduate Endowment and its abolition is a welcome lifting of the financial burden placed on today’s students.

”’The Graduate Endowment raised less than 1% per year in revenue for the further and higher education system and Scotland’s universities will continue to be amongst the very best in the world”