Is it fair to give EU students discounted university fees in the UK? | Universities

I was appalled to read that the government is planning to subsidise EU students studying at UK universities (UK willing to spend £450m a year on EU students if it can join Made in Europe scheme, 1 November).

My daughters are both on Plan 2 student loan repayment schemes, with their crippling accumulative 9% interest rates deducted at source from their salaries. The student Plan 2 loan scheme has become a financial burden for those graduates for the next 30 years. Getting a foot on the housing ladder in London, with the high cost of living coupled with ludicrous rents without rent controls and student loan repayments, is virtually impossible.

Subsidising EU students to the tune of £450m in order to give the UK access to the Made in Europe industrial programme is a slap in the face to graduates. How extraordinary that the government can suddenly magic up such a sum, to be so blatantly misused, particularly in light of the apparently “difficult” financial budget decisions John Healey was forced to make.

Vicky Wolmuth

London

The UK’s offer of discounted university fees for EU students would also benefit UK nationals who are resident in the EU. My two granddaughters are resident in France at present. If they wanted to study in English in their own country, they would currently be faced with paying international fees, which are unaffordable for ordinary families.

Qualifying for “home fee status” would benefit them directly. But it would also give our universities, and potential UK employers, the benefit of fully bilingual students with experience of living and working in the UK and the EU.

Moira Hankinson

Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire