果冻影院

The report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the听Centre for Global Higher Education听(CGHE), which is co-authored by Professor Claire Callender (果冻影院 Institute of Education and Birkbeck, University of London), is based on interviews with 48 graduates who were students under the 2006 funding regime paying tuition fees of 拢3,000, and 50 more who studied when the 2012 regime came into effect, paying 拢9,000.

The participants believed that income-contingent student loans offer access to higher education and regarded the repayment system as manageable, with the income repayment threshold protecting against low earnings. Monthly repayments were seen as affordable and automatic repayments were valued.

However, the graduates considered tuition fees and interest rates to be too high. They saw the amount of debt owed as a burden and expressed that the repayment period felt 鈥榥ever-ending鈥�. Graduates in the post-2012 reforms cohort were considerably more negative about their student loan debt, causing some anxiety and despair. The knowledge that their debt will likely never be repaid fully exacerbated the emotional and psychological toll.

Since the 1990s, England鈥檚 higher education funding system has been reformed many times, leading to a system predicated on high fees and loans. Undergraduate tuition fees for full-time students were introduced in 1998, and rose to 拢3,000 per annum in 2006, increasing further to 拢9,000 in 2012 and 拢9,250 in 2016. The 2012 reforms increased the proportion of students reliant on loans, the amount they borrowed, and the burden of student loan debt.

Professor Claire Callender said: 鈥淥ur findings suggest it is important to listen to graduates鈥� different views and integrate them in debates on the future of higher education funding in England. Graduates offer a distinctive perspective on student loans which has been ignored but is vital for building evidence-based, sustainable and fair funding policies in the future. Their experiences may not always be easy to listen to and may be contrary to policymakers鈥� thinking, intentions and vision.

鈥淣onetheless, there are significant lessons for policymakers. While there may be benefits for some to the 2012 funding reforms, the changes exacerbated the very features of the student loan system graduates already found problematic and increased the burden of student debt. Graduates鈥� experiences raise important policy questions:听why should the loans of even the poorest post-2012 students accrue such high interest rates while they are studying and before they reap any financial benefits from their higher education? Why burden students and graduates psychologically and materially with enormous debts when most will never fully repay them? And is the student loan system and the income it generates for the Treasury really worth the potential long-term consequences for graduates鈥� welfare, life choices and opportunities,听affecting the lives of generations to come?"

Co-author Dr Ariane de Gayardon听(University of Twente) said: 鈥淒ebt can take a psychological toll on graduates arising from the size and longevity of the debt, alongside the interest charged. All can potentially damage the lives and aspirations of future generations. When reforming the loan system, one objective should be to reduce the burden of student debt for graduates. To do so, we need to listen to the voices of graduates. Our new report provides important insights into what graduates feel about the English student loan system and which features work for them, and which do not.鈥�

The Centre for Global Higher Education is an international research centre focused on higher education and its future development. CGHE is a research partnership of 15 UK and international universities, including 果冻影院, and is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, with support from Office for Students and Research England. Professor Claire Callender is Deputy Director of CGHE.

Links

• Read the report on the HEPI website: 鈥樷��
• Department of Education, Practice and Society

Image

• 颁谤别诲颈迟:听 CC BY 2.0

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Rowan Walker

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