# FILE NAME: 00001082.soc
# TITLE: Should governments provide more funding for public universities? [cfa8038aaeb317f52907ba8e0bb1e2c9]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 4
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - “The government should provide more funding for public universities. The cost of university education is going up and it would depend on whether this would lower the cost otherwise it creates a lot of debt and with a period of higher interests rates that could be off-putting and it might only attract richer or foreign students and more funding might need to be provided to make it more affordable for local students. There would need to be clear rules about what this extra funding would be used for and whether it would be of a benefit or make things worse.”
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - Education is important for society as a whole. The government should be doing all it can to improve it, including more funding.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - “After a debate, we came to the consensus view that the government should provide more funding for public universities. A number of participants felt that the cost of university is currently too high and that this is preventing many people from going. As well as this, people are graduating with a large amount of debt that they will have to pay off for the rest of their lives. If more funding was provided for public universities, this would be used to reduce the cost of university and also help with providing people from poorer backgrounds with the same opportunities as those from richer ones. We did also consider whether funding should be provided for private universities but felt that these should be privately funded as this will be good for the economy. The group debated whether more funding should be provided to help to improve the quality of education and improve facilities but we all felt that this should be done by the universities themselves through increasing the fees they charge to students.”
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - In general, the group was in favour of more funding for public universities. Most participants felt that the current situation, where the cost of university is increasing and the quality of education is decreasing, is not sustainable. Most participants felt that the quality of education is declining because of a lack of funding. The group also felt that increasing the funding would allow more people to go to university and would therefore increase the quality of education. However, the group also felt that it is important to make sure that the funding is used in the right way and that it is used to make university more accessible and affordable to people from all backgrounds.
2: 3,4,1,2
1: 4,3,1,2
1: 2,4,1,3
1: 1,3,4,2