As part of last Wednesday's Budget statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced a package of measures to “broaden and strengthen support for postgraduate researchers (including both masters and PhDs)”. Part of this funding package will see the introduction of loans of up to £25,000 to support PhDs and research Masters students during their studies.
Lack of funding has meant that, up until now, postgraduate study has simply not been an option for many students – whilst others who have taken on the financial burden of a Masters or PhD have paid the up-front costs of postgraduate courses through means such as credit cards, pay-day lenders, or studying part-time whilst working long hours. In this sense (and following the recent announcement of loans for taught postgraduate courses), we welcome last Wednesday's announcement, which has the potential to further widen access to postgraduate study outside of the most affluent.
However, our welcome is a cautious one. We were concerned to note that these loans have been “designed to minimise public subsidy” of postgraduate study. We are worried, therefore, that the loans will push the financial burden of postgraduate study on to students and will lead to a dramatic cut in government & research council studentships, particularly in areas such as the Arts & Social Sciences where industry funding is less forthcoming. Government funding proposals for these loans also appear dependent on the reduction of undergraduate student numbers and on the sale of the student loan book – measures which could see access to university study restricted in the future and leave current students paying off their loans at higher interest rates or until they retire.
Whilst £25,000 will undoubtedly go some way to providing financial support to PhD and Masters students, when split over 4 years of study and covering both fees and living costs, many students may still find paying for their degrees difficult. These loans also continue the government’s programme of privatising our universities and pushing the burden of debt on students. Instead, the Guild supports the principle of a public education system, a principle that these proposals appear to threaten.”