University of Edinburgh’s Principal, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, has suggested that some Scottish students could “make a contribution” to their undergraduate education during an interview on Scotcast.
He told the hosts that he believes that the current funding model is “not sustainable” and “heading for trouble as illustrated by [the funding crisis at the University of] Dundee.”
Mathieson suggested that increased tax-payer funding per head would be one way of raising necessary funds.
However, an alternative, he claimed, was for Scottish students to “make a contribution to the costs.”
“They can either do it in the form of tuition fees, or they can do it in the form of some kind of graduate repayment scheme and it can be contingent upon salary.”
Despite this, he claimed that he was “not advocating the introduction of tuition fees.”
Asked about the cap on the amount of places for Scottish students, he said: “at the moment, if I was asked to take more Scottish students … I would lose more money.”
He argued: “you could have more Scottish students within that system if there was more money going into it.”
In the current model, the Scottish government annually gives universities £7,610 per head to teach Scottish-domiciled students, while the rest of the UK now pay £9,510 per year, and foreign students are charged up to £40,000 per year.
This means that international students’ fees play an important role in subsidising the fees of UK students.
In the 2024/25 academic year, 26 per cent of the University of Edinburgh’s students were Scottish-domiciled, 23 per cent were from elsewhere in the UK, and 50 per cent were from the EU and overseas.
One second year student told The Student: “the reason I feel financially confident enough to go to Edinburgh is because of the waived fees.”
“Comments like [Mathieson’s] contribute to a sense that Scots are not particularly welcome at this university.”
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson told The Student: “Scotland’s universities make a vital contribution to our economy and society, and they must remain a political and public priority.
“I warmly welcome the work being taken forward by the Scottish Government and Universities Scotland to address the sector’s serious and urgent financial challenges.
“Securing a sustainable future will allow our world-leading institutions to thrive, innovate and remain at the forefront of education and research.”
“Peter Mathieson 2019” by Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
