{"id":41367,"date":"2017-11-13T12:09:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T20:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=41367"},"modified":"2017-11-13T12:09:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T20:09:25","slug":"uk-student-finance-system-needs-shaking-sake-poorer-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/uk-student-finance-system-needs-shaking-sake-poorer-students\/","title":{"rendered":"The UK student finance system needs shaking up \u2013 for the sake of poorer students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Students from the poorest households in England now graduate with the\u00a0highest levels of debt<\/a>. On average the poorest 40% of students owe around\u00a0\u00a357,000<\/a>\u00a0after three years of study, compared with an average of \u00a343,000 for students from the richest third of families.<\/p>\n

This outcome is due to the way the student finance system is currently set up. First time undergraduate students can borrow money for both tuition fees and maintenance. But unlike previous years when students from poorer households were also entitled to non-repayable maintenance grants, since 2016 this has been replaced with an \u201cenhanced loan allowance\u201d \u2013 which inevitably just leads to more debt.<\/p>\n

Our recent research<\/a>\u00a0found that coupled with higher debts for the poorest students, the inequalities in the funding system are directly impacting students\u2019 day-to-day budgeting, which is creating a number of issues.<\/p>\n

Gaps in the system<\/strong><\/h4>\n

While prospective students\u00a0have been found to have significant concerns<\/a>\u00a0about the level of debt now associated with university study, figures show\u00a0nine in ten undergraduates<\/a>\u00a0still take out maintenance loans. This is currently a maximum of \u00a38,430 available for full-time students studying away from home, outside of London.<\/p>\n

Eligibility for this type of funding is based on household income \u2013 which implies\u00a0parents are expected to supplement<\/a>\u00a0student budgets. In this way, for many of these\u00a0semi-independent<\/a>\u00a0young adults, parental support is a\u00a0financial necessity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But for students from low income families \u2013 not to mention\u00a0care leavers<\/a>,\u00a0estranged<\/a>, and mature students \u2013 it is not always possible to fall back on contributions from parents, as one student we spoke to explained:<\/p>\n

For me, if my mum comes to visit me, and doesn\u2019t need me to pay half of the petrol money, that\u2019s a treat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These students are then forced to make up this often significant shortfall. Most of the time this means either indebting their future \u2013 by using up savings or dipping into private credit \u2013 or indebting their present \u2013 by having to work part-time to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

Making ends meet<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As part of our research into student experiences of funding university, we\u00a0followed the second cohort of undergraduates<\/a>\u00a0under the tuition fee system that has been in place since 2012. We also continued our annual evaluations of available\u00a0institutional financial support<\/a>. We saw how poorer students often only had enough savings to balance cash-flow issues across their first year. When this money dried up, students highlighted their growing reliance on commercial credit, such as interest-free student overdrafts.\u00a0These often start at \u00a3500 and can go up to as much as \u00a33,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We found more students also turn to term-time work over the course of their studies. Our latest institutional survey suggests 37% of undergraduates work while they study full-time. This is consistent with national estimates which show a\u00a0third<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0students work alongside their studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Term-time work does of course bring with it a number of benefits beyond improved cash-flow \u2013 think new skills, new contacts and\u00a0improved time management<\/a>. But depending on the type of job and contract \u2013 as well as the number of hours worked and the flexibility offered \u2013 term-time work can put substantial pressure on students and\u00a0their academic work<\/a>. It can also impact the amount of time students have for extracurricular activities. And on top of the stresses and strains of full-time study, it can start to have an effect on\u00a0mental well-being<\/a>. One of the students we spoke to explained the impact of having a term time job in her third year:<\/p>\n

It made me ill, but I had to get the money. I work all my rent out until the next finance [installment], then I count the weeks to the next finance and split whatever\u2019s left weekly. This semester I was on \u00a39 a week.<\/em><\/p>\n

University bursaries<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This is in part why most universities offer non-repayable bursaries to students from low income backgrounds, in line with\u00a0access agreement spending<\/a>. Like maintenance loan entitlement,\u00a0how much bursaries<\/a>\u00a0are worth \u2013 depends on a student\u2019s declared household income. These are awarded to eligible students automatically in instalments across each academic year.<\/p>\n

Our research found these university administered bursaries can help to alleviate day-to-day budgeting concerns, providing students with the extra cash they need to get by \u2013 as one student explained:<\/p>\n

[Without the bursary] I\u2019d have to probably work more hours on the job, but that sometimes would clash with lectures. I guess I\u2019d maybe have to make a decision \u2013 is the lecture important or not?<\/em><\/p>\n

But while these bursaries can provide important support for those most in need, eligibility and the amount available to students differs significantly from\u00a0university to university<\/a>. This means poorer individuals from universities with higher proportions of eligible students receive less support.<\/p>\n

Access for everyone?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As the Conservative government scrambles to appeal to\u00a0younger voters<\/a>, it has proposed further changes to the student loan repayment system \u2013 and even floated the idea of\u00a0cancelling student debt altogether<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But none of these proposals address the pressing issue of day-to-day budgeting while at university. As our\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0shows, it will not be solved by students simply being \u201cmore frugal\u201d \u2013 as\u00a0universities minister Jo Johnson recently suggested<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What is needed is a dusting down of the old government\u00a0grant system<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 complimenting the bursaries offered institutionally \u2013 to reach those students most in need. This would help to ensure those from low income households are properly supported, and that they don\u2019t leave university with considerably more debt than their peers.<\/p>\n

Author Bios: <\/strong>Rita Hord\u00f3sy is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Higher Education, University of Sheffield and Greg David Brown is a Widening Participation Researcher and Evaluator both at the University of Sheffield<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students from the poorest households in England now graduate with the\u00a0highest levels of debt. On average the poorest 40% of students owe around\u00a0\u00a357,000\u00a0after three years of study, compared with an average of \u00a343,000 for students from the richest third of families. This outcome is due to the way the student finance system is currently set […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":41368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[12565],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-41367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-student-debt"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe UK student finance system needs shaking up \u2013 for the sake of poorer students - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/uk-student-finance-system-needs-shaking-sake-poorer-students\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The UK student finance system needs shaking up \u2013 for the sake of poorer students - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Students from the poorest households in England now graduate with the\u00a0highest levels of debt. 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