How University can benefit you

 

In the early sixties, only one in twenty school leavers went to university. Today it is one in three. More adults are taking a degree in their twenties too.

 

Britain needs more people with degrees and more skilled workers with higher technician and associate professional qualifications in the years ahead. Over the next 10 years most of the new jobs will need people who have the skills and education higher education offers.

 

That's why the Government wants half of all young people under 30 to experience the benefits of higher education.

But getting a degree not only boosts your education and skills, it improves your ability to earn a good living too.

Graduates earn on average of 35 per cent more than the average wage - or £400,000 more over a lifetime than somebody on average earnings. Graduate unemployment has been half the national average for decades.

 

I recognise that there may be different reasons why some of you who have the potential to benefit from university feel it is not for you. Sometimes it is because nobody in your family or on your street has been to university. For others, it may be worries about how much it will cost - and finding the fees.

 

But there's a lot more help available than you might think. That's why we're taking our Aimhigher roadshow to schools across the country - so that we can talk to young people about the benefits of higher education and the support on offer to them.

 

Backed by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest, the campaign is designed to allay young people's fears and misconceptions about going to university.

There have been stories suggesting that the cost is putting young people and mature students off university. Yet student numbers are rising: this year there were 5.4 per cent more places accepted by young people and 9 per cent more by mature students.

But there are still too few students from poorer backgrounds going to university. So we intend to continue with our Aimhigher campaign over the next three years to reach teenagers aged 13-19 whose families have no tradition of going into higher education.

 

Teachers are also spending more time with university tutors to encourage them to persuade their pupils that university is for them.

There are plenty of different courses, which can help you to make the most of yourself.

We also work with Oxford, Cambridge and other older universities to make sure that bright young people are not put off going because of their home background.

 

Many young people decide to go to work after school or college, and go on to university a bit later on. In fact, a third of all undergraduates are not school leavers.

 

There are many full and part-time courses and most universities have particular programmes designed to support mature students.

The government has also introduced new vocational foundation degrees. In areas like applied engineering, hotel management and multi-media technology, they will help you get promoted and lead to better jobs.

 

Whatever your chosen path, fees should not put you off. Half of all students pay no fees at all. Only those whose family earn over £20,000 a year have to make a contribution - and many of them don't have to pay the maximum £1,075. In fact only one in three students pay the full amount.

 

Most students get help with their fees and, unlike loans, this help does not have to be repaid. And remember that fees only cover a quarter of the cost of most courses. The Government pays the rest.

Help towards living costs comes mainly from student loans. These are much more attractive than commercial loans that are offered by high street banks on two counts.

First, there is no commercial rate of interest. Repayments are only linked to the rate of inflation.

Second, the amount you repay is directly linked to your income once you have graduated.

So if you were earning £10,000 a year, you would not have to pay anything back unless your income rose. If it reached £12,000 a year, you would have to pay £15 a month. If you earned £17,000 a year, you would pay back just over £50 a month. It's 9 per cent of every £1 you earn over £10,000 - much better than the old mortgage style loans which preceded this scheme.

The loan available varies. For those who live away from home, the maximum loan is £3,815 and £4,700 in London. All eligible students can get a loan worth at least three-quarters of this amount.

The loan for those living at home varies from £2,265 to £3,020, depending on your family income. These amounts will increase for 2005/06 and following years in the light of inflation.

There is other help available too. At university and college, there are extra loans and grants to meet particular needs, for instance money to cover childcare costs. The Disabled Students Allowance can help pay for special equipment, travel costs or other non-medical help.

Some courses, such as nursing and teaching, have professional bursaries available too to help with living costs while training.

There are also special bursaries available to some pupils to help cover the costs of books and other materials, worth up to £2,000 over three years. They are part of our wider "excellence in cities" and "education action zones" programmes designed to improve links between urban comprehensives and universities.

What's available depends very much on your personal and family circumstances, but there's a lot more help available to those from lower income backgrounds.

Your local education authority can tell you exactly what you're entitled to, as well as helping you to apply for a loan or help with fees.

 

As a government, we will always keep this under review and the loans available normally rise in line with inflation.

But we're also currently taking a more fundamental look at the balance of costs to students, their families and the government.

Our review aims to simplify the present system, providing more up-front support for students from poorer backgrounds so that students do not fear debt when they decide to go to university.

However, since graduates earn more in later life, we feel it is not unreasonable to expect some contribution to the cost of their degree.

 

A university degree is good value for money. Extra learning does lead to extra earnings. There's already lots of help available while you study.

 

I hope that you find a course in this publication, which will help you fulfil your ambitions.

 

For more information: visit www.dfes.gov.uk/aimhigher or call 0800 587 8500 for a free booklet.

By Margaret Hodge, Lifelong Learning and Higher Education Minister

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