Students in Britain could face a graduate tax for decades after they leave university under proposals being discussed by ministers。

　　They believe the charge could be used instead of increasing tuition fees to save universities from cuts. But universities fear there is no guarantee that it would be spent on higher education。

　　With tuition fees, most students take out a loan of about 3,225 pounds a year at low interest rates and pay it back after they graduate. Universities want fees to rise to 5,000 pounds a year。

　　A graduate tax would see former students pay a percentage of their earnings。

　　But the Russell Group of top universities calculates that graduates in the upper 20 percent of earners could end up paying at least 16,000 pounds a year–far more than the cost of their education. It would mean that graduates would be, in effect, penalized for earning more - as they would be forced to pay a percentage of their earnings for many years after they leave college。

　　Tuition fees, on the other hand, amount to a flat rate charge usually paid in installments after a person graduates. The poorest pay nothing - but no one pays more than a certain amount。

　　据英国《每日邮报》14日报道，英国拟对大学毕业生征收“毕业税”，方案目前正在教育主管部门讨论之中。

　　方案支持者认为此举可以让英国各高校在不增收学生学费的情况下继续运转。但是各高校仍对“毕业税”能否被分配在高等教育领域持有疑意。

　　据了解，在现有的征收学费的制度下，大部分学生每年会申请大约3225英镑的低利率助学贷款，毕业之后还清。但是英国高校希望能将学费增至一年 5000英镑。就此，“毕业税”这一概念应运而生，毕业生可按照收入的一定比例缴纳税款，从而不用缴纳学费。

　　英国大学“罗素联盟”统计了收入水平占前20%的毕业生的缴纳金额后得出，他们每年可能要支付高达1.6万英镑的毕业税，这要比交学费贵得多。这就意味着，实际上，毕业生因为赚得多而受到惩罚——因为在离校多年后他们还得向政府支付部分收入。

　　而现有的学费制度中，学生需要偿还的款项是统一固定的，大部分学生在毕业后分期还清。穷困学生甚至可以免还贷款——但是没有人被要求比固定数额缴纳更多。