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Posted May 14, 2013

Minister Pleads With Banks to Offer More Postgrad Loans

The debate about postgraduate funding is an ongoing saga which seems to be passed back and forth between those who believe that the government should be doing more to directly fund postgrads in the same way as undergrads, and those who believe that banks and businesses should be doing more to help out those tackling their master’s and PhDs. The universities minister David Willets has recently been talking at the Guardians for Higher Education conference, where he made his views on the matter crystal clear for everyone attending.

The first point which was raised by the minister was that there was absolutely no possible way for the government to fund postgraduate study in the current financial climate, and that this was a matter that was not worth discussing at this point in time. One of the reasons that this is not seen as a possibility is that Willets doesn’t “want to find us inadvertently ending up with student number controls for postgrads as a consequence.” This seems like a fair assessment of the situation, as there would be no way of funding a limitless amount of postgraduate students, and the government policy on limiting places is clear – they do not wish to enforce number restrictions on those attending higher education in the UK.
 

Banks Should Step Up

Willets insists that banks should step up to the plate and take on the responsibility for helping postgraduates with their funding issues. He states that the “classic device” for postgraduate funding was career development loans , and that this system should be amended to cater for many more students. Currently banks are giving career development loans to just 44% of applicants, meaning that over half of those who apply are being turned down, and they are left with little or no help when it comes to finding an alternative funding source. This situation is simply not helpful to students, and Willets believes that the most viable way of providing more mainstream access to postgraduate courses. We are in danger of pricing out poorer students, and this is a big cause for concern. Another funding option that used to be available, the support offered from research councils is no longer available, and there is little or no hope of finding the funds anywhere else for many students. Banks are the only viable route to increase access to postgraduate courses for those on low incomes, and we must do all we can to encourage them to increase their loan system.
 

Read our Ultimate Postgraduate Student Funding Guide

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