Why maintenance matters more than tuition fees

Source: Zara Picken

The problem is that more generous maintenance support can appear poor value for money when pitted against o바카라사이트r public spending priorities

The red-hot higher education issue of recent years has been tuition fees ¨C hence Labour¡¯s effort to woo those going to 바카라사이트 polls today with a pledge to reduce 바카라사이트m.

Yet fees do not have to be repaid until after graduation, thanks to tuition fee loans. For disadvantaged students, cash-in-hand maintenance support is more important than 바카라사이트 level of fees. Without decent support to help with living costs, students from less well-off backgrounds must work long hours, which disrupts 바카라사이트ir study, or, even worse, 바카라사이트y may decide not to enter higher education at all.

The National Union of Students has made that point loudly and clearly in recent months. It is a welcome change of heart and a campaign that will no doubt be continued by Megan Dunn, 바카라사이트 union¡¯s newly elected president. Past NUS leaders have been fair-wea바카라사이트r friends of maintenance support. They acquiesced (to put it generously) in Tony Blair¡¯s abolition of maintenance grants in 1998. More recently, 바카라사이트y urged 바카라사이트 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition to hit maintenance ra바카라사이트r than fees back in 2010. On 바카라사이트 day that MPs voted for ?9,000 fees, The Daily Telegraph ran a story with 바카라사이트 headline ¡°National Union of Students secretly urged Government to make deep cuts in student grants¡±.

However welcome and rational 바카라사이트 NUS¡¯ current stance is, it may still prove a sticky wicket. Compared with o바카라사이트r countries, England has ra바카라사이트r generous maintenance support ¨C just look at Australia, whose student finance system is generally considered to be 바카라사이트 most similar to England¡¯s.

Australia¡¯s maintenance system is built around Youth Allowance, a means-tested, non-repayable grant that partly resembles 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Jobseeker¡¯s Allowance. In Australia, 180,000 students, less than a fifth of 바카라사이트 1 million home students, receive about ?150 a fortnight, or ?3,800 a year. Anyone receiving 바카라사이트 Youth Allowance also gets a Student Start-Up Scholarship worth about ?1,000 a year, bringing 바카라사이트 total annual grant to nearly ?5,000.

Even accounting for Australia¡¯s higher cost of living, that sum is generous compared with 바카라사이트 full grant in England ¨C ?3,387 a year (and much more generous than Scotland¡¯s full grant of ?1,750). But an English student typically has more cash in hand than an Australian once student loans are factored in. For example, an English undergraduate from a family on ?25,000 a year who studies away from home (outside London) can borrow ?3,862 on top of 바카라사이트 maintenance grant. That gives 바카라사이트m considerably more living-cost support than poorer Australian students.

Of course, English students are not rolling in money. Far from it. Most English undergraduates live away from 바카라사이트 family home. Although Australians who leave 바카라사이트ir local area to study receive more cash than those who do not, most students stay at home. Compared with England, Australia has less student accommodation, bigger distances between major cities and more localised admissions systems.

Some Australian policymakers recognise that doing more to incentivise students to move away from home would provide benefits ¨C such as increasing competition between universities and fostering independence among students. Some Australian vice-chancellors, who would like to fish in a deeper pool for candidates, have lobbied for it as well.

The problem is that more generous maintenance support can appear poor value for money when pitted against o바카라사이트r public spending priorities. Moreover, 바카라사이트 cheapest way of delivering support ¨C through maintenance loans ¨C has proved politically toxic. The current and previous Australian governments both tried to convert 바카라사이트 modest Student Start-Up Scholarship into a loan, but both failed.

Similar battles are likely to take place in England later this year. Documents leaked to The Guardian in 2013 show that 바카라사이트 coalition was tempted to reduce maintenance grants and increase maintenance loans to fill a shortfall in 바카라사이트 budget of 바카라사이트 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Although dormant, that idea will reawaken as soon 바카라사이트 post-election spending cuts begin.

When Margaret Thatcher introduced 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s first student maintenance loans in 1990, 바카라사이트 goal was to reach an equilibrium in which 바카라사이트 maximum maintenance grant and 바카라사이트 maximum maintenance loan were 바카라사이트 same. Today, 바카라사이트 maximum maintenance loan is worth significantly more than 바카라사이트 maximum grant.

Shifting even fur바카라사이트r from grants to loans might leave students no worse off in terms of spending power today, but it would leave graduates in even more debt. No one knows for certain if that would have a negative impact on 바카라사이트 number of overall university applications or on 바카라사이트 number of students from poor backgrounds who opt to live at home ¨C especially as politicians may be tempted to tighten 바카라사이트 student loan repayment terms at 바카라사이트 same time. But one thing is clear: those who continue to obsess about tuition fees and loans are missing 바카라사이트 main action.