Report queries post-independence UK student fees

Charging British students tuition fees for attending Scottish universities would be illegal if the country were to gain independence, legal experts have warned. The news is bound to be a blow to the Scottish National Party as Scotland would be left to foot a £150 million (US$245 million) bill in extra university fees, writes Lucy Sherriff for Huffington Post.

The Scottish government says students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be made to continue paying fees if the country were granted independence, while those from Scotland and other European Union countries attend the university free of charge. However, experts have said the practice would break EU laws as it would discriminate against the British.

In a report highlighting the illegality of continuing to charge fees to British students, Paul Beaumont, professor of EU and private international law at Aberdeen University said: "It is hard to see the Court of Justice of the EU accepting the Scottish government’s arguments as to how this overt discrimination against students from [the rest of the] UK can be justified."
Full report on the Huffington Post site