Prospective higher education students in the Isle of Man are being assured that the funding available to them here is still higher than elsewhere.

The assurance comes in the face of proposed changes to the Education (Student Awards) Regulations 2010, which annually set out the level of funding for which students will be eligible in the year ahead.

This year’s regulations have been drawn up following a public consultation exercise conducted between December and January, which attracted 160 responses.

The Department announced that it needed to review payments to students in the light of rapidly increasing demand for funding and costs and the likelihood of changes in fees charged by UK higher education institutions.

The main changes the Department is seeking to introduce are:

- An increase in the academic standard required at degree level for a student to be supported for a postgraduate degree, up from a minimum of a second class honours degree (2:2) to an upper second class honours degree (2:1) for all courses starting in the 2010/11 academic year.

- A contribution of a means-tested ?1,000 a year towards ongoing study from students who have already enjoyed three years’ support.  This applies to those starting postgraduate courses, and those commencing degree courses of four years or more, in the 2010/2011 academic year.

- No increase in the academic standard for qualifying for funding for undergraduate courses is planned for the forthcoming academic year.

However, from 2011/12 onwards, students will need a minimum two Cs at A level or equivalent to qualify for degree funding, it is proposed.

Also being examined for 2011/12 are measures which will encourage students to undertake courses which directly support the Island’s economic development.

Education and Children Minister Eddie Teare MHK (pictured) will ask the April sitting of Tynwald to approve the 2010/11 regulations.

Ashley Halsall, the Department of Education and Children’s Director of Finance, explained the number of students undertaking postgraduate degrees after completing initial degrees has increased significantly – up from 117 in 2007/08 to 163 in 2009/10.

Costs have risen correspondingly, from ?818,000 in 2007/08 to an estimated ?1.4m in 2009/10.

Postgraduate funding is taking up a growing percentage of the overall higher education budget and threatens to restrict the sum available to students undertaking first degrees.

It is estimated the requirement to gain a 2:1 in order to qualify for postgraduate funding will affect 15% of graduates.

The Department has traditionally placed little or no restriction on student choice of course, institution or length of course, Mr Halsall explained.

Whereas previously the majority of undergraduate courses lasted three years, there is a growing tendency for students to apply for undergraduate courses, sometimes combined with postgraduate courses, of four or more years. 

Currently more than a third (400) of the undergraduate courses supported fall into this category.
 
"In addition to the pressures explained above, the price of university tuition fees has increased each year and is likely to increase substantially in the next two years, following the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance in the UK, led by Lord Browne, which is set to report by Autumn 2010,’ said Mr Halsall.

"The arrangement with the UK universities is that the Island pays the full cost of the tuition fee whereas in the UK this cost is shared between the student and the UK funding authorities.

"Students in England incur an interest-bearing liability of ?3,290 each year.  In the Channel Islands, students can be required to pay up to ?9,043 per annum towards the cost of tuition fees.

"Fees paid by the Department starting at undergraduate level range from ?20,000 for a three-year, classroom-based course to ?75,000 for a five-year medical degree.

"The reason for the proposed changes is to allow the Department to continue to offer continued support for full-time, part-time, distance/flexible learning first degree courses and postgraduate courses, within existing resources.

"Despite the need to introduce the above measures, the support for higher education provided by the Island for its students continues to surpass that available in many other jurisdictions. 

"The choice of courses is currently virtually unrestricted and they can be undertaken at international higher education institutions as well as those in the UK."