Concerns student loan changes could reduce number of low-income students attending university
Katy Morton
Friday, March 4, 2022
There are fears changes to the terms of student loans could impact on the number of students from low-income families going to university to study subjects including degrees in early childhood.
The Government announced last week that for students starting university from next year, the repayment term for loans will be extended from 30 to 40 years after graduation, and the income threshold at which loan repayments begin will be lowered from £27,000 to £25,000.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the repayment threshold will be frozen at £25,000 until 2026-27 and then indexed to the inflation rate rather than average earnings.
It has warned the changes will hit ‘middle and lower-earning graduates the hardest’, while Philippa Thompson of the Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network says the move could create a two-tier system, with students from low-income families reconsidering whether they want to go to university.
She told Nursery World, ‘As with all young people, the changes in the terms of loans could again produce a two-tier system where students from low-income families think twice about the financial constraints and long-term implications of attending university.
‘These degrees make a difference in society as knowledge and understanding of early childhood contributes to the quality of practice and provision across education, social care and health/well-being. Unfortunately, salaries in these areas of the public sector do not always reflect this increase in knowledge and understanding. Many of our students apply for our degrees from a desire to make a difference in society and therefore it is difficult to know how much impact these decisions will make but it is certainly something to monitor.’
Eunice Lumsden, head of early years at the University of Northamptonshire, said it is too early to tell if the loan changes will have an impact on recruitment to university, however.
She said, ‘At this point of time, there are too many variables in early years to know exactly how the proposed changes will impact on recruitment to HE [higher education]. It is important that this agenda must not be seen in isolation of the 'Levelling Up’ and technical education agendas or the challenges of low pay, status and working conditions of those working in early years settings.’
