Students from the Isle of Man carrying on into higher education will continue to be funded much more generously than their counterparts in the UK, despite the fiscal challenge facing the Island and the prospect of UK students having to pay up to three times the current tuition fees, Eddie Teare, Minister for Education and Children says.
The Minister was speaking as he prepares to ask Tynwald to approve changes in support for students in the 2011/12 academic year set out in the Education (Student Awards) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2010.
The regulations are revised each year and set out the level of funding students will be eligible for in the year ahead. Minister Teare has brought forward Tynwald’s consideration of the regulations from the springtime, when they are usually debated, to December to give students and their families more notice.
The latest regulations have been drawn up against the backdrop of the Browne Review, which was tasked with helping universities meet rising demand for places in a way that is sustainable for public finances, and the UK Government’s initial response to that, published last month, which indicates universities will be allow to charge two or three times the current amount per year in fees.
Minister Teare said how much universities would charge students and how greatly this would affect the Isle of Man was still an emerging picture.
However, the formula by which most Island students’ tuition fees are calculated, via an agreement with Universities UK, looked likely to remain in place for one more year into 2011/12 and this would allow the Department of Education and Children to maintain full funding for the vast majority of eligible students.
‘We have tried to keep the changes to a minimum for the coming year and we hope that the earlier publication of our proposals will provide more certainty to our students and their parents,’ said Minster Teare.
The main changes the Department is seeking to introduce from September 2011 are:
An increase in the minimum academic standard for qualifying for degree funding, from the current two Ds or equivalent at A level to two Cs or equivalent, which amounts to 160 UCAS points (this was flagged up when 2010/11 regulations were published in the springtime and will affect approximately 14 students, although this will vary from year to year).
An increase in support offered to those undertaking part-time and distance learning courses, up from ?2,700 a year to ?3,500. The income tables for means testing this support have also been increased. (There are currently 21 students supported on such courses).
An amendment to the definition of ‘contributor’ to make spouses, civil partners, parents and guardians contributors irrespective of whether or not they live with the student.
In addition, maintenance awards will be maintained at their current levels.
Some changes to funding were introduced for the current academic year, with Tynwald’s agreement. Students starting postgraduate courses will pay a ?1,000 a year means-tested contribution, as will undergraduate students for the fourth and subsequent years of their studies. Students must achieve at least an upper second class honours (2:1) degree to qualify for postgraduate funding, up from a 2:2.
The Department spends ?11.5 million a year paying the tuition fees of more than 1,600 local students who are in higher education in the Island and the UK as well as meeting means-tested grants for a third of them.
This is in contrast to the UK, where students take out loans to meet course fees and repay them over a 25-year period.
This year alone, 708 students from the Isle of Man started higher education courses at UK or Isle of Man institutions, with funding from the Department for Education and Children.
Minister Teare said: ‘We regard continued investment in the education of our young people as being of vital importance to the future of the Island. However, it will be a challenge to support the current level of students if fees rise dramatically and funding reduces. We will have to react to the new scenario as it unfolds.’
Ends
Friday 3rd, December 2010 12:36pm.
