Undergraduate students will be asked to contribute a minimum of ?2,500 a year towards their higher education from September 2014 if Tynwald approves regulations that go before it in December.
An Isle of Man Government-administered loan scheme to cover the ?2,500 universal contribution would be available to ensure that students have the opportunity to continue into higher education. Repayments would commence a year after graduation, provided that a student’s income has exceeded ?21,000 a year. The interest rate would be 5 per cent.
Students whose parents have an income of more than ?80,000 would contribute more, on an incremental basis, with those with a parental income exceeding ?100,000 being asked to contribute a further ?6,500 a year towards course fees for most courses.
The additional contributions would be reduced for families with two or more children in higher education at the same time.
These changes are contained in the Student Awards Regulations, which Tynwald is asked to approve annually.
The measures would make a significant contribution towards ensuring the Department of Education and Children meets financial targets set for it by Treasury in the ongoing rebalancing of the Island’s budget.
The DEC currently spends ?11 million of its ?95.8 million budget on student awards, with some 1,400 students supported, and the measures outlined in the regulations would, after three years, lead to an annual saving of ?4.4 million a year. However, administering the loan scheme and means testing students would mean some additional resources were required.
Undergraduates starting higher education courses next September would not be charged in the first year but would pay from year two and beyond. In 2014, first year undergraduates would contribute right from the start of their studies. This timing has been adopted to give families the longest possible notice of this change.
The new measures would not affect students who began their undergraduate courses in 2012 or earlier.
Postgraduate students are already required to make a loan-supported contribution of ?5,000 a year towards their studies. This level of contribution would be maintained for those commencing postgraduate studies in September 2013 or those continuing postgraduate courses they started in 2012.
Undergraduates already at university, whose courses extend beyond three years, would continue to contribute to additional years at the rate specified by the Student Awards Regulations in place when they commenced their courses.
From 2014, new postgraduate or fourth-year+ students would pay the universal ?2,500 contribution plus additional contributions as their family income dictates.
Fee support is capped at ?9,000 with the exception of certain courses such as medical, dentistry and veterinary courses.
Tim Crookall MHK, Minister for Education and Children, said: ‘The fiscal challenges facing the Island mean we have no choice but to ask Tynwald to support measures that mean undergraduates would contribute to the cost of their higher education from 2014.
‘However, with many degree courses costing ?9,000 a year – and some costing considerably more than that – the Isle of Man Government would still be meeting much of the cost of higher education for most students.
‘If these regulations are adopted, our students would still be better supported than those in the Channel Islands, where contributions are higher, and England, where they are expected to meet all their fees.’
