英國大學學費加利息54,000磅？

英國大學學費加利息三十年實付54,000磅？

筆者剛來英國唸碩士的時候，學費是一年9000多磅，這是overseas fees，本地生唸碩士是算 home fees，要看是唸什麼所，理工的6000多磅。同一個時間，大學部的學生學費 home fees 是3000多磅，overseas fees 也是9000磅起跳。

後來英國學費不斷調漲，無論是 home fees 或是 overseas fees，一漲常常就是兩三倍。

像是我當初唸的劍橋宗教所，等到我博士唸完的時候，學費漲到15,000磅，現在學費為20,000磅左右。怎麼隨便漲就是好幾千磅在漲的？從2009年到現在2017年，中間八年，學費漲成兩倍。這是外國人來英國唸碩博士的學費。

大學生學費本地生原先是3000多磅，現在是9000多磅，整整漲了三倍。預計還會再繼續漲上去。

英國學生唸大學唸三年，學費三年需要至少借28,000磅，這只夠付學費，生活費還沒有算。畢業之後找到年薪21,000磅以上的工作，才需要開始還債。如果一輩子都找不到年薪這麼高的工作，三十年後學貸一筆勾銷。

大學學費28,000磅實際上是付多少？最近有一個機構叫 The Intergenerational Foundation (IF) 做了一份報告，計算什麼樣的收入，三十年之內總共會繳多少。

IF是誰？我去查了一下他們的宗旨：

The Intergenerational Foundation (IF) is an independent, non-party-political charity that exists to research fairness between the generations in order to protect the rights of younger and future generations in British policy-making.

Whilst increasing longevity is to be welcomed, our changing demographic and expectations of entitlement are placing increasingly heavy burdens on younger and future generations. From housing, health and education to employment, taxation, pensions voting, spending, transport and environmental degradation, younger generations are under increasing pressure to maintain the intergenerational compact whilst losing out disproportionately to older, wealthier cohorts.

IF questions this status quo, calling instead for sustainable long-term policies that are fair to all generations – the old, the young and those to come.

他們計算出：

• A graduate earning £41,000 would pay back £54,000 on their tuition fee loan. And after 30 years, a further £38,900 would still be outstanding.
• A higher paid graduate - earning £50,000 per year - would earn enough to clear all their tuition fee debts within 30 years and would have repaid about £57,000.
• For someone earning £35,000, repayments would cost £37,800, with £55,000 to be written off after 30 years.

英國的平均薪水是多少？2015年財報年得到的平均是27,600磅。

但是當然很多大學畢業生，不會一畢業就找到27,600磅的工作。

IF做了一個計算，大學畢業生預計第一份工作薪水是22,000磅，慢慢變成41,000磅。這樣的人總共需要付多少學費加利息？答案是31,000磅。而且其實還沒有付完，只是利息69,000磅直接三十年後一筆勾銷。

就算是年薪41,000磅的畢業生，也還是沒辦法把債完全清掉，三十年後還剩下近40,000磅沒付。學貸三十年後沒付清，誰付？納稅人。

借28,000磅左右，還了三十年，剩下沒還的比當初借的還多？這就是複利的威力。利息到底多少？這一篇報導有寫到：

文章是2016年五月刊登的。

While they were at university, and during the year since those on three-year courses graduated, their loans have been attracting interest of inflation plus 3%, with the government setting the RPI – typically higher than CPI – as the measure of price rises. Since April, those who have finished university have been charged interest according to their earnings. Anyone earning less than £21,000 a year is charged inflation – now 0.9% – and this goes up on a sliding scale, so that by the time they earn £41,000 their debt is accruing interest at 3.9%.

When Crowther and his contemporaries began their courses in 2012, inflation was 3.6%, so in their first year interest of 6.6% was being added. This March, the inflation rate was 1.6%, so in September their interest rate will be 4.6%.

利息就是RPI (In the United Kingdom, the Retail Prices index or Retail Price Index is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics) 加3%。文章中提到的利息範圍從最低的3.9%，到最高達6.6%。這樣的利息實在蠻高的，難怪會三十年後還沒全額繳清。