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Student borrowing is a major higher education public policy issue, with students in both England and the United States increasingly relying on loans to finance postsecondary education. Our paper examines prospective higher education students' attitudes towards debt in England and the United States. It exploits a unique dataset which allows us to compare students' responses to similar surveys conducted in both countries during the same time period. Our study is the first of its kind to explore how students' borrowing attitudes differ across the two countries. It confirms widespread loan aversion among prospective higher education students in both countries. But students in the United States are more debt averse than their peers in England. These debt averse attitudes also predict lower intentions to pursue higher education, potentially exacerbating existing inequalities in access. We consider how these attitudes to borrowing are likely shaped by each country's distinctive student loan system. We conclude that the design of loans matters. England's income-contingent loan repayments, in contrast to North America's mortgage style repayments, make borrowing less risky and reduce the impact of loan aversion on participation decisions, while borrowing is more common, and the system less complicated, in England. Thus, there are lessons for other countries considering introducing student loans or reforming their provision. We contribute to the extant literature on the determinants of, and socioeconomic differences in, higher education participation and the overlooked role of student debt aversion.

A hallmark of English higher education (HE) over the last twenty years has been policies seeking to increase provider competition and student choice. Central to this has been student funding policy changes, leading to rising college costs. This article asks if prospective HE students' concerns about college costs and the financial strategies they anticipate using because of them, widen or limit their choice of HE institution and subject of study. It calls on the findings from a nationally representative survey of 1,374 English college applicants and uses latent class analysis to develop a typology of students' planned financial coping mechanisms: "Minimizing costs"; "Managing costs and maximizing returns"; and "No financial concerns"; which prove to be socially stratified. "Minimizing costs" students are the most disadvantaged and adopt mechanisms which constrain their choices of where and what to study, unlike students in the other groups. Thus, government policies aimed at improving student choice potentially have the opposite effect for the most disadvantaged, perpetuating existing inequalities in access to, and the experience of, HE.

This paper reports on recent research aimed at assessing how the management of the undergraduate student experience in English higher education is changing in the light of the new tuition fee regime introduced in 2012, as well as other government policies aimed at creating market-type pressures within the higher education sector. A distinction was observed between the research-intensive universities studied--defined here as institutions where research income comprised 20 per cent or more of total turnover, with correspondingly strong positions in published research-based rankings--and universities largely dependent on income from teaching, with weaker market positions. Broadly speaking, the latter group were responding to market pressures by centralizing services, standardizing procedures, and strengthening management controls over teaching processes. The research-intensive universities tended to work within existing institutional cultures to respond to students' needs. Organizational change here usually took the form of creating more coherent functional groupings of student services, rather than comprehensive reorganizations. It appears to us that these different responses to a changed environment point to the creation of two distinct English university types, one strongly managerial with "student as customer" orientations, and a smaller group with less centralized, more collegial cultures.

England and the United States provide a very interesting pairing as countries with many similarities, but also instructive dissimilarities, with respect to their policies for higher education access and success. We focus on five key policy strands: student information provision; outreach from higher education institutions; student financial aid; affirmative action or contextualisation in higher education admissions; and programmes to improve higher education retention and completion. At the end, we draw conclusions on what England and the US can learn from each other. The US would benefit from following England in using Access and Participation Plans to govern university outreach efforts, making more use of income-contingent loans, and expanding the range of information provided to prospective higher education students. Meanwhile, England would benefit from following the US in making greater use of grant aid to students, devoting more policy attention to educational decisions students are making in early secondary school, and expanding its use of contextualised admissions. While we focus on England and the US, we think that the policy recommendations we make carry wider applicability. Many other countries with somewhat similar educational structures, experiences, and challenges could learn useful lessons from the policy experiences of these two countries.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained mistakes. Below are the corrections: 1. On page 9, '83%' should be changed to '84%' in this line 'However, because most students take out both types of loans (84% of borrowers in....', Author(s): Ariane de Gayardon [sup.1], Claire Callender [sup.2], Francis Green [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.83440.3b, 0000000121901201, Centre for Global Higher Education, UCL Institute of Education, , 20 Bedford Way, WC1H [...]

Faced with higher education expansion and limited public funding, governments globally have resorted to student loans to shift more costs onto graduates. However, there are growing concerns about graduates' mounting debt, and its potentially damaging economic and societal consequences. Income-contingent loans are seen as a potential solution because of their protective features and image of fairness. Yet, research suggests that such an image is at odds with some graduates' subjective experiences of income-contingent loan debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the UK, part-time study is now seen as important in meeting wider government objectives for higher education (HE) and for sustainable economic growth through skills development. Yet, measures to capture the impact of HE may not be wholly appropriate to part-time study. In particular, the continuing focus on tangible, economic measures may be down-playing, or even completely overlooking, other gains. Data from a longitudinal study of part-time students show that irrespective of whether graduates had changed job or employer, or had stayed in the same job, individuals reported substantial work-related gains from their HE studies. We suggest that current research questions that focus on job moves and progression within the labour market, may well be the wrong questions to ask to gauge measures of benefits/returns to HE. Further research is needed to develop measures to fully capture the social returns of skills acquisition through part-time study.

This article critically assesses the nature and scope of current financial support for part-time undergraduates in England, highlighting its importance for widening participation. It considers the limitations of these financial arrangements, why they are in need of reform, and some of the consequences of their inadequacies. The paper argues that the system of support favours full-time HE at the expense of part-time. Consequently, there are now clear incentives for higher education institutions (HEIs) to grow their full-time programmes and run down their part-time provision. Thus, the current financial provision impedes the growth of part-time HE and reduces students' opportunities for studying part-time and for lifelong learning, at a time when flexible provision is increasingly important for economic growth and recovery. The inadequacy of the financial support for part-time students leaves untouched the financial barriers to part-time HE participation. Together these issues undermine the goals of widening HE participation and social justice, and perpetuate inequalities within and across the HE sector in England. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

The 2004 Higher Education Act introduced variable tuition fees of up to 3,000 British Pounds for full-time undergraduates in England. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) charging the maximum tuition must give low-income students bursaries of 300 British Pounds. On top of this mandatory minimum, HEIs now provide additional discretionary financial support exceeding this level to these and other students. The degree to which these new bursaries and discretionary financial support have become a policy instrument for improving access and widening participation has not, as yet, been documented. Little is known about why the government introduced bursaries and what the government saw as their role. Even less is known about the type of bursaries HEIs have introduced or how they are being used, because up till now they have not been examined systematically. This article presents the first such analysis. It concludes that, from the evidence currently available, a mismatch exists between government aspirations and HEIs' actual use of bursaries and scholarships. Moreover, the bursaries and scholarships put in place may perpetuate existing divisions within and across higher education. (Contains 8 notes.)

The new student funding regime introduced by the 2004 Higher Education Act in England is predicated on the accumulation of student debt. Variable tuition fees, repaid by student loans, will increase average student loan debt on graduation. This article examines how fear of debt and financial constraints affect prospective students' choices of where and what to study. Using data derived from a survey of about 2000 prospective students, it shows that financial issues constrain lower social class students' choice of university far more than those from other social classes. It demonstrates that fear of debt is related to two key financially-driven decisions--applying to a university with low living costs, and applying to one with good term-time employment opportunities--but only for students from low-income families. However, concerns about debt do not influence their choice of qualification and subject. The article concludes that low-income students are more likely than their wealthier peers to perceive the costs of higher education as a debt rather than an investment. (Contains 7 tables.)

Term-time employment among Britain's undergraduates is a growing phenomenon but it has received scant attention from government and policy makers. Although there are numerous studies on the subject, few have explored the impact of term-time employment on students' actual attainment and those that have are limited. This article attempts to fill that gap. Using data derived from 1000 students in six UK universities, it quantifies the impact of students' paid work on their actual marks and degree results, while controlling for their academic attainment on entry to higher education and other factors including their hours of work. It shows that irrespective of the university students attended, term-time working had a detrimental effect on both their final year marks and their degree results. The more hours students worked, the greater the negative effect. Consequently, students working the average number of hours a week were a third less likely to get a good degree than an identical non-working student. Some of the least qualified and poorest students are most adversely affected perpetuating existing inequalities in HE. The 2006/07 changes to student finances may help some of them, but term-time employment is likely to remain part of the HE landscape. (Contains 4 tables and 13 notes.)

We report long period grating (LPG) devices based on a hybrid architecture incorporating photopatternable fluorinated poly(aryl ether ketone) and silica layers for applications in wavelength filtering and power distribution. The grating structure was implemented using a periodic corrugation on a thermally oxidized silica lower cladding layer, a photopatterned fluorinated polymer ridge waveguide, and a similar polymer top cladding. In this design, the corrugated silica layer allows a highly stable grating structure, while the fluorinated polymer offers a low propagation loss and easy processability. Strong rejection bands have been demonstrated in the C + L wavelength band, in good agreement with theoretical calculations. The fabricated LPG devices show a thermal dependence of 1.5 nm/[degrees]C. Based on this design, an array of waveguides incorporating LPGs has also been fabricated. Distribution of light at the resonance wavelength across all the channels from a single input has been demonstrated. These results are promising for power distribution in photonic network applications or on-chip sensors. OCIS codes: 050.2770, 130.5460, 230.7390, 230.7408, 220.3740.

Low-attenuation waveguides based on the propagation of long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) along thin Au stripes embedded in low absorption perfluorocyclobutane (PFCB) polymer are presented. A new low in propagation loss of OCIS codes: 230.7390, 240.6680, 310.6860, 160.5470.

The fabrication of embedded microchannels monolithically integrated with optical waveguides by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of doped silica glass is reported. Both waveguide ridges and template ridges for microchannel formation are patterned in a single photolithography step. The microchannels are formed within an overlay of borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), which also serves as the top cladding layer of the silica wavegnides. No top sealing of the channels is required. Surface accessible fluid input ports are formed in a BPSG layer, with no additional steps, by appropriate design of template layers. By tightly controlling the refractive index of the waveguide layer and the microchannel-forming layer, fully integrated structures facilitating optical coupling between solid waveguides and liquids segments in various geometries are demonstrated. Applications in liquid-filled photonic device elements for novel nonlinear optical devices and in optical sensors and on-chip spectroscopy are outlined. OCIS codes: 130.1750, 130.3120, 230.7380.

A series of novel cross-linkable bromo-fluorinated poly(arylene ether ketone)s have been synthesized and used to fabricate photonic devices. The polymers, prepared by polycondensation reactions of decafluoro-benzophenone with mixtures of bisphenols in different ratios, exhibit excellent solubility in common organic solvents and can be easily cast into optical-quality thin films by spin coating. The materials are thermally stable with decomposition temperatures ([T.sub.d], 5% weight loss) over 450 [degrees]C and have high glass transition temperatures ([T.sub.g]) in the range of 164 [degrees]C-178 [degrees]C. By controlling the bromine content of the polymers, the refractive index can be precisely controlled over a range as wide as 0.07. The material has excellent design flexibility, low optical loss (0.4-0.6 dB/cm at 1550 nm), a low birefringence (2-3 x [10.sup.-3]), and is suitable for use in wavelength sensitive photonic devices based on arrayed waveguide gratings. OCIS codes: 130.3130, 130.1750, 160.5470.

Concerns over the impact of debt on participation in higher education (HE) have dominated much of the debate surrounding the most recent reforms of financial support for full-time students in England, including the introduction of variable tuition fees. Yet few studies have attempted to explore this issue in a statistically robust manner. This article attempts to fill that gap. It examines the relationship between prospective HE students' attitudes to debt, and their decisions about whether or hot to enter HE. Using data derived from a survey of just under 2,000 prospective students, it shows how those from low social classes are more debt averse than those from other social classes, and are far more likely to be deterred from going to university because of their fear of debt, even after controlling for a wide range of other factors. The article concludes that these findings pose a serious policy dilemma for the Westminster government. Their student funding policies are predicated on the accumulation of debt and thus are in danger of deterring the very students at the heart of their widening participation policies.

This article analyses the interaction between two policy areas affecting young people in England – housing and student funding. It is the first of its kind exploring a range of dynamics in the relationship between housing and student loan debt. Young people today are far less likely to own their home and are more likely to live with their parents than earlier generations. In parallel, higher education tuition fee increases have led to a growing share of students taking out loans and graduating with higher debt, which they will be repaying for most of their working lives. This research examines the relationship between student loans – having borrowed for higher education and attitudes towards debt – and housing tenure at age 25, using the Next Steps dataset. We find that young graduates who did not borrow for higher education are more likely to own their home and less likely to rent or live with their parents than graduates who borrowed for their studies or young people who never attended higher education. These results suggest that higher education funding policies and student loan debt play important roles in structuring young people's housing in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase reconstruction based on optical ultrafast differentiation is implemented using an integrated-waveguide Mach-Zehnder interferometer to demonstrate self-referenced phase characterization of gigahertz-rate complex modulated signals (e.g., quadrature phase shift keying and amplitude phase shift keying modulation formats), through a single-shot and real-time technique. This method is transparent to both modulation format and bit rate, limited only by the bandwidth capabilities of the temporal intensity measurement instrumentation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An analysis of the results of the 2002-2003 student income and expenditure survey conducted by the Department for Education and Skills. The survey is the first to analyse the consequences of the abolition of grants for higher education in the UK and their replacement with loans, as well as the introduction of tuition fees in 1998. The survey reveals that students from wealthy backgrounds have done better out of the new system than those from poorer backgrounds, generally leaving university with lower levels of debt. It is argued that the fear of debt will keep future students from poorer backgrounds out of university and that the effect of the government's reforms will be to widen social divides.

We demonstrate the all-optical reconfigurable time slot interchange (TSI) of individual bits at 40 Gb/s based on four-wave mixing (FWM) and a programmable planar lightwave circuit (PLC). The PLC is used to generate different control signals (masks) that determine which bits undergo TSI. By programming the PLC to generate two different masks, two different TSI patterns are obtained. TSI is achieved using FWM between the data signal and the desired mask with bidirectional propagation in a length of highly nonlinear fiber. Error-free operation is obtained for both of the TSI patterns, with a power penalty <; 5.2 dB, at a bit error rate of 10-9. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores how the Robbins Report's recommendations for a massive expansion in higher education alongside a comprehensive system of student financial support, both financed by the public purse, came about and were translated into policy. It argues that these policies, including the Robbins principle, the desire for expanding educational opportunities plus the Reports' emphasis upon the public and social benefits of higher education, can only be understood within the context of the Welfare State and the values and ideas enshrined in its post-war development. In addition, the article examines some of the Robbins Reports' projections about the number of student places demanded and compares these with the actual number of students enrolled, highlighting the changes in the composition of the student body overtime. It concludes by exploring issues concerning student funding and highlights the shifts in thinking about the role of higher education, who benefits and so who pays; changes associated with the end of the post-war consensus about the Welfare State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable tuition fees and bursaries, funded by higher education institutions, were introduced in England to promote student choice and provider competition, while bursaries would off-set higher fees and safeguard access. Both have been central to government reforms of undergraduate student funding since 2004. This article assesses student perceptions of the impact of bursaries on their higher education decisions and choices, and considers the implications for the 2012/13 National Scholarship Programme. It concludes that most students do not think their choices are affected by bursaries, although those who are cost-conscious, expect to receive higher bursaries, especially of £1,000 or more, and attend Russell Group universities are more likely to think bursaries are influential and important. The reconfiguration of institutional aid from 2012/13 may overcome some perceived barriers to the effectiveness of financial support, but is likely to exacerbate others, and create new impediments and inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We use the direct temporal domain approach to design spectrally periodic optical filters for pulse repetition rate multiplication (PRRM) with envelope shaping. In particular, we demonstrate a tunable lattice-form Mach–Zehnder interferometer using Silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) for arbitrary 4-bit binary amplitude code generation at 40 GHz and to increase the repetition rate of a 10 GHz input pulse train to 20 GHz or 40 GHz. In addition to PRRM and envelope shaping, the device also has the capability of arbitrary phase coding. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mothers’ increasing labour market participation is posed as a key aspect of a growing trend towards individualization — both for ill and for good. In ‘for ill’ versions, mothers’ employment is regarded as undermining commitment to family relationships and leading to a loss of community. In ‘for good’ versions, family and community relationships become contingent upon values of equality and respect. ‘Preference theory’ modifies the individualization thesis, with a posited distinction between mothers in full-time employment with ‘work-centred’ identities and those with part-time work who want ‘adaptive’ or ‘home-centred’ identities. This paper examines such issues, drawing on qualitative case study research on mothers employed full and part time in a hospital and an accountancy firm in the UK. It considers how the variable work ethos of organizations, and the ways mothers engage with these, can interact with their engagement in family and community relationships. In particular, it suggests that employment can be as much about social obligation in a local community, and commitment and obligations to family, as about individualized self-provision and options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing and widening participation have been at the heart of New Labour's higher education initiatives since they came to power. This article argues that their 1998 reforms of student financial support were inconsistent with their commitment to widening access and fairness in educational opportunities, and their desire for higher education to contribute to greater social cohesion. The article examines this policy contradiction. It explores how the 1998 reforms came about, and the effects of the reforms. It traces briefly the development of student funding policies under the Conservatives, and under New Labour. Next, is assesses New Labour's policies and policy objectives, drawing upon the findings of a major survey on students' income and expenditure. So, it explores some of the effects and consequences, both intended and unintended, of the 1998 reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

New research, funded by the joseph Rowntree Foundation, examined the distribution of income within families receiving social security benefits, at a time when those receiving benefits are being encouraged more than ever to move “from welfare into work”. Power within the ‘private’ domain of marriage/ partnerships was shown to be influenced by employment opportunities, methods of social security payment and public discourses around parental roles and responsibilities. Case study material illustrates how “““‘public’ policy can influence financial aspects of the ‘private’ sphere of the family, as reforms are introduced which will further change patterns of work and welfare. Such changes may provide social workers with opportunities for interventions aimed at ameliorating female disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Discusses the policy implications of a study of the distribution of income within families receiving social security. Sources of household income; Benefits for children; Working family tax credit.

This article considers some of the working patterns and reward packages which the British public sector will increasingly need to devise in order to compete with the private sector. The article first reviews the main facts of the demographic down-turn and assesses the likely consequences for the labour market. It considers the changing supply of both school leavers and graduates in the context of the broader supply and growing demand for skills in the economy. It then goes on to consider the position of the public sector in the context of these changes. In particular, it uses the changing role of the local authorities to exemplify the challenges facing public sector managers, both in terms of their own job contents and as they seek to attract and retain the skills they need to deliver their services in the 1990s. The stark fact is that Great Britain is facing a 35 percent downturn in the number of 18 year olds in the decade to 1994, with most of the downturn to occur over the next six years. The downturn will be most pronounced in the high unemployment areas of the north and the midlands and weakest in the booming south east. Although the fall is likely to be highest among the least well qualified, there will still be a dramatic decline in the number of young people with five O levels or two A levels.

A liquid core waveguide monolithically integrated with silica waveguides is demonstrated as a nonlinear optical device. Continuum generation is achieved using toluene as a core medium, with picosecond pulses at 1550 nm wavelength. A 500 nm wide spectrum is generated for an estimated peak input power of 60 kW over a propagation length of 16 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]