In an additional victory for students, MSPs voted for £8m of additional funding this year for 1200 more college places and related support.
Liam Burns, President of NUS Scotland, said:
“This is great news and testament to the hard work of thousands of college students across Scotland. Students across colleges and universities have mobilised fantastically well, with over 30,000 letters and emails sent to MSPs on this issue.
“To win £15m for college bursaries in a budget which is being cut is a fantastic result. We hope this will now end the yearly ritual of college bursaries running out and end the threat of cuts to 40,000 of our poorest students.
“The Scottish Liberal Democrats have worked very hard for this result. They, along with the Scottish Government and students across Scotland, deserve great credit.
“While there is a great deal of work that remains to be done, this is one step forward to show that our Scottish Parliament can take a different road to the let down and betrayal of students we’ve seen in the rest of the UK."
Only the beginning
"This is a great victory for students in Scotland however this isn’t the end. It makes no sense during times of financial hardship to cut the number of graduates contributing to the economy. Politicians must be clear how they are going to protect the number of graduates.
“Student support is still broken in Scotland, with students forced to live far below the poverty line.
“Ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May we’ll be calling on all parties to come clean on their plans for students and asking them to commit to keeping Scotland free of fees, maintaining graduate numbers and improving student support in Scotland.”