英國欲徵"畢業稅"代替大學學費

Business Secretary Vince Cable is to propose a graduate tax linked to post-university earnings, replacing the current system of tuition fees, as part of major reforms to higher education.

Under the plans the government would pay tuition fees directly to universities, instead of lending to students.

Graduates would repay the cost of their degree once they start working, with higher earners paying more.

"We want to investigate an option which is clearly fairer and related to people's ability to pay," Dr Cable told the BBC's Today Programme, ahead of a speech at London's South Bank University.

Two-year degrees and more flexible, part-time courses are also expected to be suggested in the plans, as a means of cutting the cost of higher education.

The proposals will be investigated by Lord Browne in a sweeping review of higher education, to be published in the autumn.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) -- which was ordered by the government to slash its budget -- has written to universities confirming cuts of £200 million for this year, including £82 million from teaching grants.

The Universities and College Union (UCU), which represents lecturers, warned the government against "increasing the financial burden on the individual".

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "If the government thinks it can get the public to swallow higher fees as some sort of graduate tax it is living in a dream world.

Tuition fees were introduced by the Labour government and first paid by students in 1998. Overall, students pay up to £3,225 a year, which must be paid back when graduates start earning more than £15,000 a year.

英國商務大臣文思•凱博日前提議按照英國大學生畢業後的收入水平對他們徵收“畢業稅”，以代替目前的大學學費。這將是高等教育主要改革的措施之一。

按照該計劃，學生無需再向政府貸款繳納學費，而是由政府直接向大學劃撥學費。

學生畢業後一旦找到工作就要開始償還學費，收入越高，償還的金額越多。

凱博博士在倫敦南岸大學發表演講前接受英國廣播公司《今日》節目採訪時說：“我們希望引入一個更加公平、結合人們實際償還能力的方案，並對其進行調研。”

此外，作爲削減高等教育成本的舉措之一，該計劃向大學生“推銷”兩年制的大學課程和更加靈活的業餘課程。

主持英國高等教育全面評估工作的布朗勳爵將對該提案進行調研，評估報告將於今年秋天公佈。

應政府削減預算的要求，英格蘭高等教育基金管理委員會致信各高校通知本年度將削減2億英鎊的預算開支，其中包括8200萬英鎊的教學津貼。

代表大學老師的英國高校聯盟告誡政府“不要試圖增加民衆的經濟負擔”。

高校聯盟的祕書長薩莉•亨特說：“如果政府認爲可以通過什麼畢業稅來將高額學費轉嫁至民衆身上，那簡直是在做夢。”

英國自1998年工黨執政期間開始實行大學收費制。目前英國大學生每年需繳納3225英鎊的學費，學生畢業後年收入超過1.5萬英鎊時開始償還這筆貸款。

Vocabulary:

graduate tax:畢業稅

live in a dream world:像做夢一樣