Back to Search
Start Over
England's New Scheme for Funding Higher Education through Student Fees: 'Fair and Progressive'?
- Source :
- Political Quarterly; Apr-Jun2013, Vol. 84 Issue 2, p200-210, 11p
- Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- From September 2012 most home undergraduates at English universities are being charged fees of £9,000 per annum. These are funded by a government loan, which attracts interest from the moment they start their course; after three years their accumulated debt exceeds £30,000. They can also borrow to cover their living costs, on the same terms, so that those studying in London can graduate with a debt of more than £50,000-although those from low-income families can obtain grants and universities are encouraged to provide bursaries and other support to students from underrepresented groups. Graduates start repaying their debts once their annual income exceeds £21,000-at a rate of 9% of the difference between their income and that figure: until the debt is fully repaid it continues to attract interest, by as much as three percentage points above the current inflation rate. Using data from a calculator on a government website, this paper shows that the highest-paid graduates pay back less than those on middle incomes: the 'squeezed middle' pays back more not only than those on low incomes but also the better-paid and those whose incomes increase more rapidly. This has differential effects according to occupation-and sex; and middle-income groups also contribute more to the costs of widening participation programmes, which all universities charging more than £6,000 per annum are required to fund. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00323179
- Volume :
- 84
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Political Quarterly
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 88931718
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2013.12014.x