- Relative to its undergraduate
equivalent, postgraduate provision has suffered neglect from successive
Governments.
- Even before the recession, the
number of UK students taking up postgraduate degrees increased only marginally
between 2002 and 2008.
- The removal of over 80% of
teaching funding to universities by the government in the comprehensive
spending review will hit postgraduates particularly hard as they are not
eligible for fee loans.
- The proposals for increased
scrutiny of international students is likely to put many off, choking off this
source of funding for universities; which risks universities raising further
their already high postgraduate fees.
- This combination means many are
excluded from postgraduate education all together, while many are partly
funding their course through ‘highly unstable’ sources such as overdrafts or
credit cards and many others have to work such long hours it hurts their
studies.
Labour Students believes:
- The UK’s future growth, both
economically and socially, rests on a highly skilled population and we cannot
rely upon attracting international talent to provide this base for the future;
we must therefore seek to encourage more students to take up postgraduate study
by working to remove financial barriers.
- No one should be unable to take
up postgraduate study because of their financial circumstances.
Labour Students resolves:
- To work towards an NUS policy
of lobbying for a system of low interest Government loans, as are available to
undergrads, for up to £10,000 of postgraduate fees; not to be paid back until
the graduate is earning over £21,000.
- To work towards an NUS policy
of lobbying for better terms for Personal and Career Development Loans (PCDLs)
and to make these more widely available.
- To encourage NUS to lobby and
work with universities to encourage them provide better and more widely
available bursaries, targeted at students from lower income backgrounds.
- To encourage NUS to lobby and
work with industry to encourage them to sponsor postgraduate provision; and
efforts must be made to encourage employer sponsorship of individual students.
Sources:
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