Student Financial Support - Factfile

• Student Debt
• Drop-out rates
• Applications
• Student Employment

Student Debt

• Barclays Student Debt Survey 1999 revealed that the average debt of 1999 finalists at the end of their course was up 17.5% to £5,286. The first survey in 1994 showed average debt at £2,212. Average graduate salaries in 1999 were up just 2.5% to £13,723 compared to a 4.6% increase in 1998. 80% owe to the Student Loan Company, 61% owe banks and 28% owe on credit cards. Just 66% of graduates had found permanent employment six months after their finals.
• NUS expects average debt for 2000 graduates to rise dramatically again due to the impact of tuition fees. In 2001, average debt could be anything up to £12,000 due to the abolition of maintenance support.
• NUS' Student Hardship Survey (1999) found that 73.3% of full time undergraduates were in debt, 71.4% of p/t undergraduates and 76.6% of postgraduates. The survey found that mature student have substantially more debt than any other students. They often need more money and have more previously incurred debt.

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Drop-out rates

• The drop out rate for the academic year 98/99 is 18% (Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England) national average. At some institutions the drop out rate is up to 30%. These figures are based on a new way of calculating drop out rates so comparisons with previous years are difficult to make.
• Drop-out rates increased from 14% in 1983/84 to 17-18% in 1993/94 (Source: Department for Education and Employment). A Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals survey revealed that an estimated 54,000 students left courses prematurely in 1994/95 (a 10% increase on 1993/94). About 40% of those leaving courses prematurely in 1994/95 were aged 21+ - this is a slight over- representation of mature students. (Source: CVCP Survey of Student Financial Support 1995).

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Applications

• Applications from mature students are down by 10.7% compared with last year. There was an overall decline of 2.5%. [Oct 1999 intake, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), April 1999]. Since the introduction of tuition fees in 1997, there has been an over all 8% fall in mature students [DfEE].

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Student Employment

• A joint GMB/NUS survey on student employment found that 40% of students are employed during term-time. Of these four out of ten are employed for between 12.5-20 hours per week. For students who worked during term-time, two-thirds said their employment affected their studies; 30% missed lectures and 20% failed to submit work due to their employment. (Source: GMB/NUS Students at Work 1996). The survey was repeated this year. Headline figures will be available at the end of July 99 and the full report is due to be published at the beginning of the academic year.
• The CVCP found that 30% of universities run job clubs for students. When students' unions and careers services are included, 60% of universities, overall, made some kind of provision to help students look for term-time work. [Source: CVCP Survey of Student Financial Support 1995].