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| Students handed 'unexpected bill' | Students handed 'unexpected bill' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Thousands of students in Scotland have been sent an unexpected bill telling them to pay off their £2,289 graduate endowment immediately. | Thousands of students in Scotland have been sent an unexpected bill telling them to pay off their £2,289 graduate endowment immediately. |
| The fee is being scrapped by the Scottish Government. | The fee is being scrapped by the Scottish Government. |
| Some 3,000 postgraduate students were previously told they could pay off the endowment after their courses ended. | Some 3,000 postgraduate students were previously told they could pay off the endowment after their courses ended. |
| However, the government said because the fee was going all outstanding debts were being collected by the Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). | However, the government said because the fee was going all outstanding debts were being collected by the Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). |
| Student leaders have warned the measure could lead to an increase, rather than reduction, in debt, and have called on Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop to intervene. | Student leaders have warned the measure could lead to an increase, rather than reduction, in debt, and have called on Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop to intervene. |
| Labour's higher education spokeswoman, Claire Baker, said the move "really reveals the SNP's attitude towards students in Scotland". | |
| Final demand | |
| She said: "To call in almost £5m from some of our most talented students just because of petty bureaucracy, without any real warning, beggars belief. | |
| "The deferment to pay the graduate endowment was offered to students by the previous government to encourage them to carry on their studies as far as they could. | |
| "By demanding full payment immediately, in some kind of final demand, the SNP have pulled the rug from under thousands of students who had budgeted to pay this many years down the line." | |
| At the beginning of this year, MSPs voted by 67 to 61 in favour of abolishing the one-off charge. | At the beginning of this year, MSPs voted by 67 to 61 in favour of abolishing the one-off charge. |
| The move meant current students would not have to pay the fee. | The move meant current students would not have to pay the fee. |
| A government spokesman said: "Some students who completed their undergraduate courses in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and have continued their studies to a postgraduate level were allowed to defer the payment of the graduate endowment fee until they completed the course. | A government spokesman said: "Some students who completed their undergraduate courses in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and have continued their studies to a postgraduate level were allowed to defer the payment of the graduate endowment fee until they completed the course. |
| "This was a goodwill gesture and did not affect the date of liability. | "This was a goodwill gesture and did not affect the date of liability. |
| "Now that the graduate endowment fee had been abolished and the scheme is being wound up, SAAS are no longer in a position to allow these students to defer." | "Now that the graduate endowment fee had been abolished and the scheme is being wound up, SAAS are no longer in a position to allow these students to defer." |