In the UK Higher tuition fees apply only to the English

Imagine if only Christian students in the United States were faced with higher tuition rates, but Muslims were exempt.



Sounds crazy?



Well a form of educational apartheid is going in the UK. Can the U.S. be far behind?



The UK Telegraph reports that English face a university education "apartheid" after Welsh students were told they would be exempt from a sharp rise in tuition fees.



The Welsh Assembly government announced that it would heavily subsidise the degree courses of about 90,000 students each year, even if they studied at universities in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.



It means that Welsh students will pay about £3,200 a year to attend university, while the English will be charged up to £9,000 under Coalition reforms. English students taking courses at Welsh universities will still have to pay full fees.



The disclosure led to claims last night that English taxpayers would effectively be subsidising cheaper courses for Welsh undergraduates.



At present, the Welsh Assembly receives an annual grant of £15 billion from the Treasury to fund devolved services including health, education and housing. Spending per head was about £5,500 this year, compared with £4,800 in England.



The Welsh announcement coincided with growing conflict in the Coalition over higher education policy.



Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said he would be prepared to abstain from the vote on raising tuition fees, despite being involved in drawing up the policy.



Thousands of students clashed with police in London in the third major protest against the fee rises, with children as young as 10 joining the marchers. Further demonstrations took place in Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol.



More details here



I can see it now. African American students will pay a third of tuition and the U.S. govt (the rest of us) will pick up the rest of the tab as a form of reparations.



Tell two friends about this blog