YourFriendlyATCO!
"You're living on a different planet. You're right in the fact that you can't do this job purely for the money. However, you also can't survive at the college on 10k. "
This really winds me up. I 'survived' for a number of years (and not that long ago) as an RAF assistant on just over 13 grand a year. I travelled home every weekend and went out on the pop every now and again. 15 grand means you can't go out and get trolleyed every night. TOUGH! Stay in and do bookwork and work hard for a year and occasionally go out and 'bond' with your course.
You may be right and the money might not attract as many applicants however it may just attract the RIGHT person who can see beyond the initial wage and is really interested in becoming a controller and will work their n**s off at the college. The reward for the hard work will soon come back to them.
p.s. 80 grand at band 5 units, different world!