Robin Parker, President of NUS Scotland, said: "The idea that introducing charging for university is somehow progressive, when it puts off the poorest students in Scotland, just simply makes no sense. And it would certainly make no sense to the many college students who aspire to go on to university.
"Johann Lamont highlights the priorities of college funding and tackling our poor rates of widening access. And we agree that there must be a focus on educational opportunities for people from the most deprived backgrounds. However tuition fees are not the way to help, and in fact would make things worse.
"It's incredibly frustrating that at a time when the Scottish Government is proposing cuts to colleges of £34.6m for next year, yet again the focus is on how we fund universities. With over £300m of additional money coming to Scotland following Westminster's autumn statement, this should not be about playing colleges off against universities. We can and should invest in both.
"The answer to college cuts, is don’t cut colleges, not tuition fees. Now is the time for the whole Scottish Parliament to work together on protecting colleges and protecting college students."