Minister stokes fears of fee hikes after the election Brendan O’Malley 24 October 2014 University World News Global Edition Issue 340 British government Business Secretary Vince Cable has warned that tuition fees could rise further in the next Parliament if the Conservatives’ plans to make £7 billion (US$11.2 billion) cuts in public spending are implemented. Cable, a member of the Liberal Democrats, also predicted cuts in student maintenance grants and a lowering of the income threshold for repayment of student loans. British government Business Secretary Vince Cable has warned that tuition fees could rise further in the next Parliament if the Conservatives’ plans to make £7 billion (US$11.2 billion) cuts in public spending are implemented. “You would also see without doubt a significant increase in the [tuition] fees,” said Cable, a member of the Liberal Democrats. Speaking at the party conference earlier this month, he also predicted cuts in student maintenance grants and a lowering of the income threshold for repayment of student loans. The cost of higher education to students has become a hot political issue in Britain where the Liberal Democrats, the junior party in the ruling coalition with the Conservatives, have been hammered in opinion polls. This followed a spectacular breaking of a pre-election promise to abolish tuition fees, and agreeing to triple them to £9,000 (US$14,430) in England. Students who started at English universities in 2014 could graduate or leave university owing £50,000 if they take out student loans and maintenance loans, according to Universities UK. But these are only repayable once a certain level of income is achieved. Opposition Leader Ed Miliband is keen to capitalise on Lib Dem unpopularity in next year’s general election by reducing student fees in England by a third, to £6,000. But so far the Labour Party has shied away from making this an election manifesto commitment because of the £2 billion cost, according to the New Statesman. The system of tuition fees, maintenance loans and maintenance grants is complicated by variations between the four UK countries and is designed to balance the need to shift responsibility for paying costs to the student, with measures to ensure students from less advantaged families are not deterred from going to university by the cost. Different policies Following the Scottish referendum vote rejecting independence, the UK has four separate higher education systems. The cost of tuition fees varies according to the different fee policies within the four. According to Which University those differences are as follows: Currently annual tuition fees in England are up to £9,000 for undergraduate students from anywhere in the UK. In Scotland there are no fees for students who live there but the fee is up to £9,000 for anyone from the rest of the UK. In Wales the fee is up to £9,000 but anyone living in Wales only has to pay £3,685; the rest of the fee is paid for by a tuition fee grant. In Northern Ireland the fee is up to up to £9,000 for students from the rest of the UK, but students who already live in the Province will only pay £3,575. Welsh students studying in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland have to pay up to £9,000 but will get a tuition fee grant to cover the difference between the fee and the cost of studying in Wales for them (£3,685). Although fees in England were allowed to nearly triple in 2012-13, students from any UK country can take out a tuition fee loan to avoid paying the fees upfront and only start repaying when they are earning at least £21,000 a year. This is the threshold in 2014 and it will rise with average earnings from 2017. Repayments are made at 9% of their pre-tax annual earnings above £21,000. According to Universities UK, which has produced a teachers’ guide on student finance, this means if graduates earn £22,000 a year salary they will repay £90 a year; if they earn £31,000 they pay £900 a year. Interest is also charged at above inflation rates on the amount owed but if graduates haven’t fully repaid after 30 years, the remaining debt is wiped. The effect of these arrangements is that those who earn little repay little or nothing, while those who earn a lot can pay back substantially more than they borrowed. Students can also receive loans to cover living costs, such as food, rent and travel, which are paid in three instalments throughout the academic year. All four UK countries provide maintenance loans and some form of grant or bursary for maintenance. In England, the maintenance loan this academic year is £5,555 (US$8,900) for students living away from home (£7,751 in London) and the full maintenance grant is £3,387; in Wales they are £5,202 and £5,161 respectively, while in Northern Ireland they are lower, at £4,840 for the loan and £3,475 for the grant. Currently in England, the loans are meant to cover up to 65 % of maximum living costs regardless of household income. Eligibility for the remaining portion of costs is means-tested, based on students’ parents’ pre-tax income minus pensions. The amount they can apply for varies, depending on whether they are living at home when they study or in university or private accommodation. Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 are entitled to the full maintenance grant, while those from families with incomes up to £42,620 are entitled to a partial maintenance grant (at £35,000 income the grant is £1,494; at £40,000 it is £547; and at £42,620 it is £50). For details, see this link. There is also additional help for paying fees for less advantaged student, which is provided by the National Scholarship Programme, which supports students from families with a household income below £25,000. Scholarships are given based on academic performance. Some students receive fee waivers, which reduce the total loan. Others receive bursaries, which mean cash gifts, eg £1,000 or help with living costs. There are also special support grants for fulltime students who qualify for different forms of income support or housing benefit, for instance if students are loan parents or have certain disabilities. The arrangements for maintenance grants and loans in the other UK countries vary. Scotland offers a combined maintenance loan with Independent Students Bursary of £7,250, for instance, and Wales offers a higher grant (Assembly Learning Grant) than England, at £5,161. Northern Ireland offers a slightly lower maintenance loan and a slightly higher grant than England. There are 125,000 non-UK domiciled EU students in the UK and, under EU law, students from EU countries or who are family members of an EU national, pay the same fees as home students in whichever UK country they are studying. This means, for instance, that EU students cannot be charged tuition fees in Scotland but those from other UK countries can. In England, EU students can apply for a tuition fee loan, but cannot apply for maintenance loans or grants, or special support grants. Fees for international students There are 300,000 non-EU international students in the UK and they pay a different rate of tuition fee than home-grown students or EU students. According to Universities UK’s annual survey of members, tuition fees for international students range from £9,000 to £45,000 depending on the type of degree. At undergraduate level, the median fee for a classroom-based course is £12,100, with most costing between £10,000 and £13,000, according to figures from 89 institutions. By contrast the median fee for laboratory or workshop-based courses is £14,200 and most charge between £10,000 and £17,000, according to responses from 72 institutions. For postgraduate taught degree courses classroom-based, the median fee was £12,900 among 90 responding institutions, with most paying between £10,000 and £15,000. The median fee for postgraduate taught degrees based in laboratories or workshops was £14,800 among 70 responding institutions, with most paying between £12,000 and £17,000. For postgraduate research degrees, classroom-based, the median fee was £12,500 among 91 responding institutions, with the vast majority paying between £10,000 and £13,000. For postgraduate research degrees based in the laboratory or workshop, the median fee was £14,900 according to 64 responding institutions, with most paying between £11,000 and £17,000. The most expensive courses of all were postgraduate MBAs, for which the median fee was £17,400. Most of them cost between £11,000 and £19,000, but the range was £11,000 to £45,000, whereas the top fee in the other categories ranged between £22,000 and £29,000. There are a number of scholarship schemes geared to international students in the UK. The main government schemes are Chevening Scholarships, Commonwealth Scholarships and the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship scheme. There are also a variety of scholarship schemes geared to particular universities, such as the Gates Cambridge Scholarships at Cambridge University and Rhodes Scholarships at the University of Oxford. University World News universityworldnews/article.php?story=20141023132520823
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 07:00:01 +0000
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