Graduate Endowment Abolition Bill published
23 Oct 07
Bill will extinguish liabilities falling due after 1 April 2008
Scotish ministers today published the Graduate Endowment Bill, containing their plans to scrap the fee payable by Scottish domiciled students and EU students following graduation.
The bill will extinguish liabilities falling due on or after 1 April 2008, but amounts due before that date will continue to be collected.
Graduate endowment, introduced in 2001 in place of tuition fees, is a one off payment (currently £2,289) due by those graduating on successful completion of a higher education course of three years or more.
Education and Lifelong Learning Secretary Fiona Hyslop said that removing the endowment would also benefit prospective employers and the Scottish economy.
She added: "Abolishing the fee is not just good news for current students but is also in the best interest of the public purse. It is an inefficient way of raising income with taxpayers losing around a third of all fee income collected."
Students with a disability and lone parents are among those who are exempt from the graduate endowment. Around half of graduates are currently liable to make the payment.
Students can pay in cash, by adding the amount to their student loan, or a mixture of both. Around 70% of graduates have been adding the endowment to their loans.
The abolition will not affect the fees, grants and bursaries currently payable by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. Universities will continue to be funded from existing budgets.