we can see that the demand for higher education is higher than the supply by increasing the amount of educational institution you will increase the supply and will move the position of supply and it will meet demand and be in the equilibrium or become more balanced to each other. However the amount of educational institution that need to be created for the change in the supply will be difficult to calculate. However by increasing supply you may meet demand, however this may be useless as supply and the demand for education is continuously changing due to other factors such as the economic climate or the price of the higher education. These other factors are not always in the control of the government the university or the students.
In Scandinavia all higher education is free due to the benefits the countries receive from it. The benefits are not just to the individual whom is studying but to society. The more students who have higher education the more qualified doctors there are to help treat people and the more teachers. The more doctors and teachers there are the more society benefit because the more teachers’ means you can pick the best have them teaching the next generation. And the best doctors can lead to better care, but also may lead to more cures. However in countries such as the usa it is argued is education really and necessary for all the people to attend higher education , and by keeping fees you keep demand lower but still at a level where the occupation that need the higher education still are being trained. Therefore only giving higher education to the amount of people needed.
If a change to higher education was to occur and it became free we would benefit however is it economically beneficial and is it possible. One way to create a free education system would be to increase tax which causes a burden on the tax payers. However this higher rate of tax could pay for university and student will still be partially paying for the education but only when the leave and get a job through the tax they pay. Another possible way for the government to get the finance to pay for the education is to reduce their expenditure on other services such as the National Health Service, fire brigade or the police. This is where the argument of weather education is more of a necessity than the other services the government offer. The opportunity cost of government paying for the education without increasing the tax would be less expenditure on the other services offered which are sometimes seen as necessities.
If the governments is unable to pay for the higher education another alternative would have to be student loans. Although this may discourage some students from attending university, it is a small minority. The loan do not have to be paid back until the student has left the higher education and is working in a job earning a certain amount before they are asked to start to pay it back and even then its only 9% of any earning over £15000. However there are many student who after the degree look for jobs below the 15000 in order to not pay back the finance and some who are just unable to as they were unable to get jobs.
Another possible source of finance is to have the students coming from rich family backgrounds paying more. However you may find that families are unwilling to pay for their child education and may cause the student to have to pay the higher price due to their family wealth. This would mean theses students would have to pay for it by taking loans and then they are put at a disadvantage. Also education is supposed to be based on merit, were students who worked hard and get the grades are able to attend university not about who can financially afford to attend.
If higher education was made free at the expense at both the tax payers and other government services being reduced and smaller payments being made by students will increase the demand and more people would be willing to go to university. However this would be inappropriate to do as the government are unable to meet the demand. Going to higher education increases the student market value and also their salary. Therefore the students should pay from some sort of payment for the education as they are receiving benefits from it. However the amount the pay back should not be too high that it should be difficult for them to pay it back even with the higher value. This is why a part government and part student payment of fees should be implemented as it is the most beneficial waay of higher education.
It has been argued that if education was free then you would receive student who are time waster drop outs, and are just wasting the time and resources. By having a fee you force the student to take the education seriously and then students who are there to waste time and resources will not attend as they will lose out. With less students there for nothing you only allow the students who want to further their studies and knowledge increasing their market value with out student who waste time, but also decreasing the dropout rates of universities. With less students who waste time students that are there for the education are able to learn more from their lecturers because there are less people wasting and distracting the lecturers and the students from their higher education .
By having free higher education you have created more of an equality between the different classes and ethnicities in who attend university. In 2006/2007 7.6% dropped out this increase has been blamed on the increase of fees making it difficult for students to cope with higher education. In 2008 we saw a fall by 0.4% of poorer students who entered higher education. A change to free education will increase this figure and make the system fairer. In the past it was only the rich white males who were offered higher education and this has grown over the years and is open to all know. With the no fees there should be an increase in the amount of application coming from student from lower backgrounds, but do we have not university places to meet this increase. Before any changes are made to the fees you have to insure that there are enough places for the student, as if their aren’t some may decide to go abroad
If the education system was to become free would international student still have to pay or would the UK government have to cover them as well. One solution could be to continue to charge the international students but at a lower rate, as to continue to keep the international students. However if the education system was to become free and the international students were paying less there would be difficulty running the university which is why it may be necessary to continue to charge the international students the higher rates. This may drive away international students to other countries and the UK university need international student as they pay the most tuition fees which help run the institutes of higher education.
Many would argue that higher education is a human right to have as it allows the person to develop and understand more. In the universal declaration of human right acts, article 26, it states that primary and secondary education should be free while higher education should be accessible to all and be based on merit. . By having fees you restrict its access to only those who are financially able. Other argue that the fee is minimal and loans are available to cover them and that other human rights are more of a priority such as the healthcare. They argue eduation is free but if you want higher education it is an extra and therefore shouldn’t be paid through taxes but the students should pay it themselves.
Many universities want to charge higher students fee this is to help get better educators who are going to more European countries because they pay better. Also with European countries having less competition between the institutes because the students attend the university closest to them.uk university argue that to be able to compete internationally they need more funding and want to get this by increasing the fees to over £5000 a year that over £2000 more a year and will discourage students from attending university because of the high fees. This will mean students will finish university with an extra £6000 debt. Some people believe rather than increasing the student’s fees taxes should be increased because it allows for the student who come out and are working could then pay it back through the increased taxes they are paying.
Students are finishing their university education with over £15 000 worth in loan and it taking these students over thirteen years to pay off the loan if increase it will take much longer to pay back. if the fees were removed we are likely to have more higher educated people working the charity and public sector as they are not just interested in getting the highest paying jobs available to them to pay of the student loans they have taken. Any increase in fees and many will take the highest paying job or will not attend university.
It is also argued that universities are in need of the extra funds and want to raise the fees. Government currently run a program call education maintenance allowance for college students in which a student can receive £30 a week for attending college some argue rather than offering the £30 a week for college put that money towards the university fees and get rid of the fees. The idea of no tuition fee for the students will encourage more students to go through college and continue to university. On the other hand some argue by making higher education free the importance of a degree is no longer and the motivation of the students is minimal.
In conclusion we shouldn’t have a free higher education; however it should be a small amount which can be afforded by the students. I believe a proportion should be paid by the government through taxes and decreases in their expenditure on other services such as nuclear weapons or the army. Student should still pay an amount in order to stop other students who will be attending but not actually working, and the rest can be paid through the taxes which will be also come of those who go into higher education .students will then start jobs with higher pay and therefore will be paying higher taxes as they are higher in the tax brackets.
Sources
These are the website I have used in order to create this essay.
Text Books
These are the books that have helped me with the essay.
- Economics for Business Fourth Edition by John Sloman and Kevin Hinde
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The cost of free education: schools and low income families By Judith O'Neill, Janet Paterson pages 2, 76
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Financing higher education: answers from the UK By Nicholas Barr, Iain Crawford