Lomond School Becomes First UK Institution to Accept Bitcoin for Tuition
Lomond School in Scotland will begin accepting Bitcoin for tuition payments in the Autumn semester of 2025. This initiative makes Lomond the first school in the United Kingdom to offer this payment option, joining a growing trend of educational institutions worldwide incorporating cryptocurrency into their operations.
The school plans to integrate "sound money principles" from the Austrian School of Economics into its curriculum. According to the announcement, this approach aims to "prepare students for the uncertain future" by providing practical experience with digital currencies.
School officials explained their reasoning: "Bitcoin is available to anyone willing to learn — making it more democratic and inclusive, particularly for people in developing nations who lack access to traditional banking. Lomond sees Bitcoin as a perfect real-world case study in economics, computing, ethics, and innovation."
While accepting Bitcoin payments, Lomond will initially convert all cryptocurrency to fiat currency immediately upon receipt. The school may establish a Bitcoin treasury in the future, but this decision will depend on input from the Lomond community.
The announcement comes amid growing institutional adoption of Bitcoin as protection against inflation. Educational institutions worldwide are responding to changes in the global financial landscape through various Bitcoin initiatives.
Bitcoin education is expanding across multiple institutions:
- University of Cincinnati added crypto courses in 2022
- El Salvador's Ministry of Education partnered with Mi Primer Bitcoin in 2023
- University of Wyoming launched the Bitcoin Research Institute in July 2024
- University of Austin allocated $5 million of its endowment fund to Bitcoin investments in February 2025
The University of Austin's chief investment officer, Chun Lai, stated that their fund sought Bitcoin exposure to benefit from the financial potential of digital assets as institutional adoption increases. The university's endowment fund manages approximately $200 million in assets.
Government interest in Bitcoin continues to grow globally. In Sweden, MP Rickard Nordin recently proposed adding Bitcoin to the country's foreign exchange reserves. His April 8 proposal to Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson suggests Bitcoin could complement Sweden's traditional reserve assets of foreign currencies and gold, noting its value as a hedge against inflation and support for free speech in authoritarian regimes.
