The Maintenance Grant Axe - Will this put future students off doing a degree?

When I first applied for university, I wasn't necessarily worried about the funding or my own finances. This was due to the beautiful safety-net of the maintenance grant, something that has helped allow students who aren't from the wealthiest families still go to university with a bit of financial ease.

Although the initial tuition fee and maintenance loan that I would eventually have to pay back was a lot to take in (especially after the increase of tuition fees), it was relieved by the fact we were in effect given free money in the form of a grant to help cover our rents.

For current full-time students, the current breakdown of finance works out at:

Tuition Fee: Full-time student - up to £9,000 per year

Maintenance loan: (In London) - up to £8,009 (out of London: £5,740

Maintenance grant: (25,000 household income or less) - £3,387

With a three year course, this equates to £44,220 worth of debts after you leave university, and even this is going to look small when the new finance is enforced.

For new students starting in 2016, the maintenance loan will increase to a maximum of £8,200 for those living away from home but outside London, and for those in London up to £10,702. This debt amounts to £59,106 for students in London, meaning £10k more than what students already have to pay back to the Government.

Not only will maintenance grants be axed, but bursaries for midwives, nursing, and other health care related courses will be diminished and replaced with loans also.

So can we be surprised if the amount of UCAS applications will decrease, really?

The idea to cut grants was first mentioned in the summer as part of 'Budget 2015', and confirmed on January 14th of this year that the axe will be put into action starting the 2016/2017 academic year. The reason being that with the amount of money funded for maintenance grants, it will eventually leave the universities themselves underfunded.

George Osborne stated that "there is a basic unfairness in asking taxpayers to fund the grants of people who are likely to earn a lot more than them". This is a fair statement, but lacking evidence to back up what taxpayers money will then be funding instead.

University should not only be an option to those from a wealthier background. It is an expensive period of your life, and every penny counts. But at the end of the day, pushing aside the living costs, it all boils down to the work you put in and the grade you finish with, and our generation of students should not be penalized for wanting a degree.

Click here to find out more information and news about the government changes to education

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