A controversial debate has arisen amongst academics and politicians from both sides of the pond; with Scotland’s latest announcement regarding new schemes for encouraging global student mobility being the topic.

In order to challenge the stay-at-home culture which is emerging amongst Scottish students the country is planning to launch a new pilot scheme which would grant students wishing to study abroad financial support.

The scheme would see those Scottish students whom choose to take their entire undergraduate degree abroad receiving the same financial support as students who study at home.

With Scotland currently having one of the lowest student mobility rates in Europe the scheme has been planned with the hope of increasing the desire to study abroad.

The controversial debate gains opposition with the consideration of fees. Should a student be accepted at America’s prestigious Harvard University then the government would end up paying an average of 17K in tuition fees under the scheme.

Although as many argue, travel broadens the mind and the opportunity which will be on offer to such students is immense, some argue the fact that financially Scottish Universities are currently on the brink of a gulf and current administration has told them they cannot have the money they need to continue at their current level. Therefore querying how essential such spending is in the grandiose scheme of things.

In defence of the plans the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning said “We believe universities at home and overseas have a vital role to play in creating a smarter, more prosperous Scotland, we also believe that access to education should be based on the ability to learn, not to pay.”

It seems that the issue surrounding funding will need to be fully explored in order for a general consensus to wholly agree with the initiative.