Some Still Being Priced Out of University

Maintenance grant thresholds failing to keep up with inflation is pricing some Manx students out of being able to go to university.

The Public Accounts Committee has been exploring the issue of student financing and made 13 recommendations.

The committee, chaired by Juan Watterson SHK, agreed that students benefit from better loans than their UK counterparts for their tuition fees, interest rates and how they are repaid.

However, it also found that that maintenance grants do not cover enough of the costs of living away from home.

Funding

The committee found that the hybrid grant and loan support available to students studying off island is sufficient to make tuition fees affordable in most cases.

However, PAC also heard evidence that maintenance grants are “insufficient when compared with the costs incurred which would include travel to and from the island and within the UK for placements”.

Eligibility for a maintenance grant is means tested based on the net income of any contributor.

The maximum grant of £8,100, or £8,640 for London, is available where net income does not exceed £21,547 and the grant amount available reduces on a sliding scale to a minimum of £300 per year at the maximum income of £70,145.

PAC said: “We note that the threshold for a full grant currently falls below the income of a minimum wage earner working full time at 37 hours a week which is £22,030;49 and the equivalent for a worker earning living wage of £25,108.50 

“We believe that this means that the threshold for a full maintenance grant is too low and make further comment on this below.”

It added that maintenance grants “do not cover enough of the costs of living away from home while undertaking higher education and this may mean, contrary to the policy, that some students are denied access due to affordability”.

The committee added: “The level of maintenance grants has been uplifted in line with inflation but qualifying income levels have not, and are below both the minimum and living wage; this means over time the proportion of students from lower income households who are eligible for a full grant has been reducing.”

You can read the committee’s full report and recommendations here.