UK: Fund degrees with business tax - lecturer union

07 March 2010

Tuition fees should be abolished in the UK and a new business education tax introduced to fund universities, the University and College Union has urged, reports BBC News. It says corporation tax should be raised to the G7 average - 32.87% - with the extra cash ring-fenced to higher education.

Closing corporation tax loopholes at the same time would yield £800 million (US$1,205 million) a year extra, funding 100,000 more students. The government has commissioned its own review of higher education funding. The union says business benefits from higher education and therefore should contribute.

General Secretary Sally Hunt said: "Our proposals are based on fairness. The future for the UK is as a high-skilled knowledge economy and that requires business to pay its fair share towards something which benefits us all. We believe our proposals will be welcomed by hardworking families who want their children to benefit from education but are put off by the potential debts created by university fees."
Full report on the BBC News site

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