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► Loans for Postgrads
Dances for money (but prefers a fair loan)
Tim Clark argues that messy, inadequate funding for postgraduate students leaves many in dire straits
Tuesday September 12, 2006
The Guardian
Trying to pay your way through a postgraduate course is tough. Course fees alone can be enough to make anyone reassess whether they can afford, or indeed really need, a postgraduate degree. Yet in an environment where vast numbers of young people are heading to university, postgraduate courses are more popular than ever. A diploma, masters or PhD is becoming a fashionable way to distinguish that all-important CV.
There are many ways of funding a course - the most common are grants, loans and sponsorship. It seems simple enough, but when you dig deeper you realise that the whole funding system is a mess. At present there is no mandatory support for postgraduate study by students in England and Wales that is centrally funded by the Department for Education and Skills.
Borrowing to pay for a course is risky. The security of the student loan you had during your first degree has gone. Grants are a fight to the death and sponsorship can be tricky. And while desperate measures can be a fun way to raise money, they are generally not that successful.
The first stop for a grant is one of the UK's research councils, but the surge in the popularity of postgraduate courses has put a strain on the main funding bodies. Since its inception in 1998, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has seen application numbers for postgraduate awards (both masters courses and doctoral research) rise steadily - from 4,300 applications in 2000, to 5,600 in 2003, to 6,000 this summer. That means a success rate of only 26%.
According to the Emma Wakelin, the associate director of the AHRC's postgraduate division, the council is turning away nearly 75% of applicants because it only has funds to make 1,500 new postgraduate awards each year.
"We turn away many students whom our peer review panels have graded as being excellent and a priority for funding, since we are now able to fund only those who are absolutely exceptional," Wakelin says. "Many of the students we turn away will have an excellent undergraduate degree, perhaps a distinction at master's level, excellent references from their tutors, an excellent proposal and strong support from their department."
For unsuccessful candidates there are alternatives. Many science or law postgraduates are well supported by corporate sponsorship, and for students taking vocational courses there are dozens of private trusts and charities that have grants to cover almost every conceivable need. In reality, many postgraduates borrow from their parents or work.
Another option is a career development loan (CDL), a scheme run by the Department for Education and Skills in partnership with three banks. Applicants can borrow up to 80% of their course fees, up to a maximum of £8,000. There are problems, however. Unlike a student loan, which is almost impossible to default on, a CDL is run on a commercial basis, and however generous the interest rate is a financial risk.
Worse, when you add up your fees and living costs, a one-year course could cost anything between £8,000 and £15,000, which makes the CDL a mere fig leaf.
"Postgraduate education has been an unregulated area that has grown very rapidly but has not been considered a priority," says Simon Felton, general secretary of the National Postgraduate Committee (NPC), a charity that aims to advance postgraduate education in the UK in the public interest. "The pressure of money places a focus on students to the detriment of their studies."
Priced out
The NPC, in collaboration with Graduate Prospects Ltd, the UK's official graduate careers website, recently published research on the "market failure of postgraduate education". As part of the survey, 1,046 undergraduates were asked if they would pursue a postgraduate qualification. Respondents who did not wish to pursue postgraduate study were asked to explain why.
The study found that a combination of high fees and concerns over debt are the biggest obstacles to postgraduate study. Tuition fees had most influence (74%), followed by the lack of funding opportunities (68%) and debt from previous study (63%).
"There needs to be a fundamental overhaul of the funding system," says Felton. "We believe a deferred loan system, similar to the undergraduate Student Loans Scheme, would be fairest and challenge the up-front nature of current postgraduate fees."
The National Union of Students has also voiced concern about graduate debt. Wes Streeting, the NUS vice-president for education, thinks students from non-traditional backgrounds should have the opportunity to apply for a wider range of easily accessible grants and bursaries to continue to study after their degree. Students from poor backgrounds are being priced out of postgraduate education by lack of suitable funding options.
"The NUS firmly believes that UK post-graduate courses should be offered at an affordable rate," he says. "For many students a loan system would allow them to access postgraduate education. However, we would caution that adding another loan amount to an already significant debt amassed from undergraduate study may leave some students in a very difficult financial situation."
A spokesman for the DfES said that support "is available through studentships and research grants, while other sources of funding include Career Development Loans, educational trusts and charities".
Economic benefits
Few postgraduates would argue that they deserve grants more than other students such as undergraduates or mature students without previous qualifications. What they do deserve is the ability to borrow to cover the expense of their course without the risk of bad debts. It seems ludicrous that local charities should have to equip an army of students in higher education, and the all-or-nothing nature of the funding system leaves too many students chasing vainly for a benefactor.
"The increasing change from research as a contribution to original knowledge to being a tool to develop people and their career aspirations, together with the economic benefits of such skilled individuals, will place an increasing pressure on the government to consider how it should support postgraduates, says Felton: "
Until a comprehensive funding body similar to the Student Loan Company comes into force, I, like many, will have to continue counting the pennies.
· Tim Clark is studying magazine journalism at City University