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Proposals for better student support
15/12/2008
Proposals to reform student support in higher education are set out in a consultation launched today.
This sets out three possible approaches to move from loans to grants, based around increasing the young student's bursary, extending it to independent students or introducing full bursary support in colleges, as suggested by the Association of Scotland's Colleges.
It also includes proposals for increasing the minimum income level of students by adding any new grant to their existing loan entitlement and moving income levels towards the minimum guarantee set out by the National Union of Students in Scotland (NUS).
The final option combines these two approaches, proposing that the new funding could be targeted at those from the lowest income families to reduce their debt on graduation and increase their income while studying.
The Scottish Government set aside £30m from the Spending Review for 2010-11 to support these changes.
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop said:
"Maintaining a world-class education system is essential if we are to create a more successful country with higher levels of sustainable economic growth. We have already taken steps to tackle some of the financial barriers faced by students and increase the help available to them, from abolishing the unfair graduate endowment fee to replacing loans with grants for part-time learners. Today, we are taking that a significant step further, seeking views on proposals to reform student support.
"Among the proposals are further plans to move from loans to grants - loans which we believe are wrong for students and wrong for Scotland. It would be better for students if grants were paid directly to them and it would be better for graduates if they were not forced to leave higher education thousands of pounds in debt. We are also considering the case put forward by students and others for an increase in the overall support available and how additional funding could best be used to help those most in need.
"This consultation is an opportunity for a wide-ranging discussion on student support in Scotland, particularly around what is most important to students - more money while they study or reducing their debt on graduation. I look forward to hearing the views of all interested parties and plan to consult during a longer period than usual to ensure students are able to fully engage."
Gurjit Singh, NUS Scotland President, said:
"This is an opportunity to create a system that will minimise hardship and debt for future students. Students welcome the Government's willingness to look at our proposals for a minimum income of £7,000 for students, which would bring Scotland's students up to the poverty line. Students are hopeful the process will result in the provision of the support they so badly need. NUS Scotland has been canvassing student opinion at events across Scotland, and will be voicing students' concerns in our response to this consultation."
Other proposals in the consultation include:
- Limiting maintenance support to five years with the exception of specific courses such as medicine and dentistry, to enable increased investment in new student grants
- Changing the eligibility criteria for minimum level of loan so that those with a household income of more than £60,000 for those away from home or £53,000 for those at home - would not be entitled to any support
- Amending the travel expenses scheme by transferring this money into the main grant pot. This would increase the overall support available to students but they would have to meet their travel costs. Careful consideration would have to be given to the impact on students from remote areas.
The focus of today's consultation is the mainstream support for full-time, higher education undergraduates at college or university but the results will also inform future policy for post-graduate and part-time learner support. The consultation will run until April 30, 2009.
It follows a range of Scottish Government initiatives in the past year to improve student support and reduce debt, including:
- Abolition of the graduate endowment fee, benefitting more than 50,000 graduates and students immediately and restoring free education
- Introducing a £38 million package of replacing loans with grants for part-time learners, benefitting up to 20,000 students a year
- Providing £16 million a year to institutions to alleviate student hardship 3. While student support is fully devolved, student loans are funded directly by HM Treasury. The Scottish Government covers the cost of administering the loans and the cost of student grants[GG1].
The Young Student's Bursary (YSB) is mainly available to dependent students with a parental income of less than £33,330. Some independent students (24 or under with children over the age of three or those who are married/have a partner and have a dependent child) also receive it. The full bursary of £2,575 is available if the household income is less than £18,820. Under the proposals, the grant could be extended by offering more non-repayable support or extending the income assessment threshold to include more students. It may also be possible to combine both approaches.
The options in the paper illustrate the potential effects of the various courses of action, based on the most current data available. Many variables may change by 2010-11 therefore a more detailed action plan will be developed for implementation once the consultation responses are known and a clear course of action is agreed.