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To: maceng2 who wrote (538)	1/23/2004 11:21:34 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 1417

we dont need no educashun.. ====================================================== news.bbc.co.uk Medics 'face £64,000 study debt' Doctors usually study for six years at university Medical students will face university debts of up to £64,000 if planned top-up fees get the go-ahead, the British Medical Association has warned. It said people from all backgrounds would suffer, despite promises of grants for the poorest undergraduates. A student on a five to six-year course and whose parents earned £30,000 could run up a £64,661 debt, the BMA said. But Education Secretary Charles Clarke said the figures were "methodologically flawed" and "grossly excessive". 'Already more expensive' The government wants to raise maximum annual tuition fees to £3,000 by 2006. The current flat rate is £1,125. Ministers have promised grants and bursaries for those from the poorest backgrounds. But the BMA said a medical student on a six-year course whose joint parental income was £15,000 could still leave university owing £51,642 if they studied in London, or £38,023 if they did so outside the city. The findings come after 19-year-old Julia Prague confronted Tony Blair on BBC's Newsnight over the possible effects of top-up fees. She told BBC News Online: "I face the prospect of being 25 without a mortgage and a £40,000 debt. "I am going to provide a social service. It's only fair that the government should contribute to the cost of my degree." The BMA figures assume all medical schools are likely to charge the full annual tuition fee rate. Daniel Gibbons, deputy chairman of the BMA's medical students committee, said: "Debts of this level would put anyone off becoming a doctor. "Medicine is already significantly more expensive than other courses, and our research shows that the problem would worsen with the introduction of top-up fees. "The government's measures to help the poorest students seem to be aimed at undergraduates on three- year courses, and fail to take into account the fact that medical students study for an extra two or three years. "On top of this, we face extra costs for travel and equipment, and have fewer opportunities to supplement our income through paid work." 'Greater earnings' But Mr Clarke dismissed the way the figures had been calculated. "They indulge in double counting and ignore the increases in grants and bursaries that will be available thanks to variable fees and will help reduce overall debt for many low income students." He said the government would pay the fees of medical students in years 5 and 6 of their courses and provide means-tested bursaries. He added that the earning power of medical graduates would enable them to pay off their debts at a quicker rate. "Doctors earn considerably in excess of the national average. Figures collected in March 2003 show that 73% of newly qualified medical graduates in hospital posts earn around £35,000 per annum. "This compares very favourably with the average starting salary for graduate-level jobs of £18,000 in 2002-03. "So they will be able to pay off their student loan comparatively rapidly," Mr Clarke said. The BMA figures are based on data published by the government and the Student Loans Company and the BMA's own research.