A week or so ago the University of Edinburgh announced, following the lead of all the major universities in the UK, that it would be charging £9,000 per year for undergraduates. This is technically a bit more complicated, because that fee applies to UK students NOT from Scotland, and there is also a special arrangement in place for EU students to attend free via an exchange arrangement, so in effect this discriminates against English and Welsh students, but all that's part of a more complex political situation I'm not going to discuss.
All I wanted to note was that students have been protesting the move, which represents a significant shift for all UK higher education institutions, which used to be free to all admitted students per national policy and funding. And at Edinburgh, in the building next to the Business School, there has been a booth set up where students are handing out flyers and trying to encourage people to protest the tuition situation.
And hanging from the front of the table was a sign that stated "Education is not a commodity," which struck me as a slightly ironic message to send, when they are trying to argue that people shouldn't have to pay for it, or that different people shouldn't have to pay different amounts for it... especially next to the Business School and across the street from the Economics Dept. But maybe it's just me....
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