£222 million cost of 'free' university degrees for English in independent Scotland

By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor. A separate Scotland’s taxpayers would have to spend at least an extra £222 million extra per year giving students from the remainder of the UK ‘free’ university tuition, a leading economist has estimated. Professor David Bell, of Stirling University, predicted at least another 4,000 school leavers from England, Wales and Northern Ireland would study north of the Border after separation. Currently SNP ministers are forced to extend their promise of a "free" higher education for Scottish students to their peers from other EU countries under European anti – discrimination laws. However, this protection does not apply within the same EU member state, allowing Scottish universities to charge youngsters from the rest of the UK up to £36,000 for a degree. Read more...