11 December 2017
Students, families, employers and the public are being asked for their views of a new student finance package that was announced in the Budget speech. A consultation is taking place between 11 December and 12 January.
The Treasury and Education Ministers are proposing that, from September 2018, tuition fees will be paid for all families with a household income of less than £150,000. The amount for fees will be set at the cost of a standard undergraduate degree in the UK, which will be £9,250 for the next academic year. Families with higher household incomes will receive half that amount.
Under the new model, the maximum maintenance grant would be increased by £500 to £6,500, and the full amount would be available to families with an annual household income of under £50,000. Those with £95,000 or less would also receive a portion of the maintenance grant to help with living expenses.
The consultation launched today aims to
- inform the public and explain the proposal as it currently stands.
- seek a mandate and gauge the level of support for the proposal.
- collect comment, giving islanders an opportunity to submit their views and feed back to the Council of Ministers.
People can comment through a short online survey
Higher education funding survey
An A4 information sheet is available and more details can be found on gov.je
Higher education funding consultation paper
Before and after Christmas, there will be drop-in events at the Jersey Library in St Helier where officers from the Education Department and the Treasury will be available to answer questions.
These are scheduled for
- Monday 18 December – 10am to 3pm
- Tuesday 19 December – 5pm to 7.30pm
- Friday 5 January – 11am to 4pm
- Saturday 6 January – 9am to 4pm
Education Minister Deputy Rod Bryans said “I know this is an important issue to many people and I am already hearing from families that are hugely relieved at the prospect of extra financial help from the States. However, this can only go ahead if we are sure of public support so I urge islanders to take part whether they are students, graduates or parents. We also hope to capture the views of students who are home for Christmas.”
The new scheme will be similar to the current grant scheme but with higher allowances so that more young people can get financial help from the States. A loan system has been ruled out because of the burden of debt it would place on students, their families and the island’s finances.
Treasury Minister Senator Alan MacLean said “The next step will be to receive a report on the consultation responses in the new year. We will need to move quickly to assess the comments, fine-tune the finance model and prepare a proposition for consideration by the States as soon as possible. It is an extremely ambitious timescale but students need our support and we would like to have a new system in place by the start of the next academic year.”
After the consultation closes on 12 January, a report containing the responses will be published as soon as possible. Ministers will consider the outcome of the consultation and a proposition explaining the final scheme will be taken to the States for debate.
gov.je