# FILE NAME: 00002484.soc
# TITLE: Should university education be free? [d888cc10a10952e2f798b488e953cdc6]
# 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: 5
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - Education is the most important investment a country can make in its future. If we want our children to grow up in a society that is prosperous, cohesive and in which everyone has the chance to succeed, then we must invest in the education of all of our children. The current system is unfair, inefficient and a barrier to a more equal society. The current cost of education is a deterrent for many, especially for those from the poorest backgrounds, but also for those from the middle classes. A system that allows universities to compete for students by lowering the cost of tuition is a positive step forward. This is the view of the group.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - University education should be free. It is an investment in the future, and in our country's economy. Burdening a graduate with debt at the very beginning of their career seems like a discouragement just at a time when encouragement would be more helpful. Education is a good thing, it's good for society and it's good for the economy. The increasing costs of going to university including tuition fees mean that people from middle and lower income backgrounds no longer have fair access. People across all walks of life have a range of skills and intelligence and being born into a wealthy or privileged background should not mean your education should be better than those who have less due to circumstances. Education should be about educating everyone to be a well functioning member of society and there should be no cost to this.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - University education should be free. Society is too unfairly balanced and the increasing costs of going to university including tuition fees mean that people from middle and lower income backgrounds no longer have fair access. People across all walks of life have a range of skills and intelligence and being born into a wealthy or privileged background should not mean your education should be better than those who have less due to circumstances. Education should be about educating everyone to be a well functioning member of society and there should be no cost to this. This is a fair appraisal of the issue and our economy should be able to support it. Those who come from a more privileged background should have more of a responsibility financially towards their fees as they can afford it whereas those who are less privileged can benefit from this. It has to be assessed individually on a sliding scale with financial input also from government and business particularly covering those areas where there is a work shortage. We also need to recoup money from those courses that are less likely to lead to a career and so less likely to give back to the economy.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - University education should be free. Education is a good thing, it's good for society and it's good for the economy. Burdening a graduate with debt at the very beginning of their career seems like a discouragement just at a time when encouragement would be more helpful. The current system of university education is too unfairly balanced and the increasing costs of going to university including tuition fees mean that people from middle and lower income backgrounds no longer have fair access. People across all walks of life have a range of skills and intelligence and being born into a wealthy or privileged background should not mean your education should be better than those who have less due to circumstances.
1: 1,4,2,3
1: 1,2,4,3
1: 1,3,2,4
1: 2,1,4,3
1: 3,2,4,1