THOUSANDS of students in Scotland considered dropping out last year because of financial hardship.
A survey by NUS Scotland showed a third of Scotland's 500,000 students – about 165,000 – may not finish their course because of debt.
James Alexander, the NUS Scotland president, said two-thirds of those came from homes where neither parent went t
o university. He described scrapping the graduate endowment as a step forward, but nevertheless added a note of caution: "That change will have little impact on the day-to-day life of students and will do nothing to tackle the issue of financial hardship during a student's course.
"Financial hardship, increasing debts and hidden course costs are all huge barriers, which non-traditional students in particular experience," Mr Alexander said. He pointed out that a local income tax would cost students an average of £400 a year extra and called for a minimum income of £7,000 for students for living costs.
Jeremy Purvis, the Liberal Democrats' education spokesman, said students across Scotland were in a state of panic.
He said: "Ministers must stop dragging their feet, heed the will of parliament and take steps towards introducing this minimum income guarantee."
The full article contains 204 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
