Low-income participation down 25% in Scotland

Despite no tuition (students pay an "endowment fee" upon graduation), the number of youth from lower-income backgrounds attending university immediately following high-school is down 25% in Scotland.

The Herald reports:

"Fewer pupils from deprived backgrounds are going to university in Scotland despite a raft of initiatives to widen participation, according to a new report.

In 2006-07, just 14% of school-leavers from secondaries in the lowest participation areas for higher education went to university compared to 19% in 2002-03."

The issue of improving participation from young people from disadvantaged backgrounds is complex. This is just another report proving that. It also shows that despite the "free tuition" rhetoric, tuition is not the primary barrier to overcome.