In his Autumn statement on Wednesday, Chancellor George Osborne is expected to unveil plans to introduce a new state-backed postgraduate loan system.
Currently, the only way to pay for a master’s course is through a university bursary or scholarship scheme, or by getting out a government career development loan, which requires you to pay back the money as soon as you complete the course, rather than when you are earning.
Think tank IPPR’s proposal for a £10,000 state loan was heavily critcised by six Russell Group universities. They argued that a loan wouldn’t help those from less well-off backgrounds because it would just add to students’ debt burden.
Research shows that 72% of master’s students have no source of finance for their studies, while two thirds of those who say they are unlikely to take up postgraduate study cite expensive course fees as the reason, and admit more financial support may help change their mind.
We spoke to seven current and former postgraduate students about the challenges of self-funding a master’s course, its social and academic impact, and whether a state loan would have helped them with their studies.
Hannah Barr
Age: 22
Course: MA theology, University of Exeter
Cost of course: £6,700
Total cost (including accommodation, travel, food etc): £12,260
How did you fund your course? three jobs, £1,000 off fees for progressing straight from undergrad to postgrad, generous parent
In my experience there are two types of master’s students: the poor and passionate, and the delaying-entering-the-real-world-and-rich-enough.
To fund my way through the master’s, I work for the residence team, looking after the welfare and discipline of around 5,000 students in university halls; I’m a research assistant and also a student ambassador. My holidays are spent working for a not-for-profit biosciences research and development organisation. Then there are extra-curricular voluntary roles, mainly within student engagement. Juggling all these jobs has definitely had an impact on my exhaustion levels – it’s only November and I already feel like I’ve done a year’s worth of work.
My life is organised around my shifts and essays, but the biggest impact by far is on the resources I’m able to access – or rather, not access. It’s impossible for any library to cover every single research area possible in every discipline possible, so getting my hands on the materials I desperately need is an expensive business. I’m presenting at my first conference in the new year and my excitement turned slightly sour when I worked out the cost of travel and accommodation of going to the conference. And next year, when my dissertation is printed and bound according to university regulations, the amount it will cost me will equate to a week’s food shop. As with undergraduate studies, it’s the hidden course costs that are the killer.
How much of a difference would a postgraduate loan have made for you?
It would make an enormous difference, especially because it would really help with covering extra course costs like books etc. I’m not doing a master’s degree (just) for the fun of it, I’m doing it so I can then go on to do a PhD and hopefully pursue a research career, so I wouldn’t mind if postgraduate loans had to be applied for with extra details such as personal statements or research proposals. Adding to the debt already accrued by my undergraduate studies is less than ideal. Student debt has become a necessary evil in pursuit of doing something that I really love.
Andrew Purcell
Age: now 28, completed master’s in 2011
Course: MSc science communication, Imperial College London
Cost of course: £5,100
Total cost of master’s year (including accommodation, travel, foods etc): around £18,000
How did you fund your course? deferred course to worked in Germany for two years as a private tutor to save up funds, financial support from parents and grandad
It was more a question of surviving rather than coping. We lived in a bedsit for nearly two years – the room was 12 meters squared, with a shower and toilet annexed off. I was extremely depressed: I couldn’t believe where we were living. The feeling of being trapped inside this tiny one room really got me down.
We padded out meals with lots of cheap carbohydrates. My wife bought some clothes for work from local charity shops and we relied on the generosity of family to support us for extras. I also decided to save money by walking for about 1.5-2 hours a day rather than using public transport, but this turned out to be a terrible idea as I soon wore holes in my shoes.
Self-funding certainly does have a major effect on your social life. You’re restricted in terms of what you can do for both budget and time reasons. I remember the shock the first time I met up with course mates at a pub near to the university. I couldn’t believe how expensive drinks were – particularly after living in Germany.
Without financial support from my family, I do not believe it would have been possible to do the course. In fact, I came very close to staying in Germany and taking up a full-time position in a nearby city teaching courses on business English for adults.
I really don’t think students should be required to go through all of this just to be able to do a master’s course at a London university (I hope the situation is better in other areas of the country).
How much of a difference would a postgraduate loan have made for you?
A loan would have meant that I could have started my course at least one year earlier. Before starting the course, I found out that I was unable to get a career development loan. Unfortunately, I discovered too late that one of the eligibility criteria for these loans is that one has to have been resident in the UK for three years prior to taking up the course.
Students from working class/lower-middle class backgrounds shouldn’t be reduced to a level of poverty just to do a course. And, the experience of “slumming it” for a year or two certainly shouldn’t be fetishized and glibly dismissed as some sort of rite of passage, especially by those who have not experienced it themselves.
Liam Haydon
Age: now 28, completed master’s in 2008
Course: MA English and American studies, University of Manchester
Cost of course: around £3,000
Total cost (including accommodation, travel, food etc): £10,000
How did you fund your course? overdraft and worked in a bathroom showroom
During my studies I lived at home, so at least I knew I had food and shelter without too much worry. That said, there were definitely many weeks where I couldn’t afford to do anything social. Having £30 a week disposable income is a very small amount and soon gets eaten away if, say, there are presents to buy for family birthdays or Christmas.
I remember going to my first conference, which was a small roundtable, and knowing I had to make excuses because I simply couldn’t afford dinner out afterwards. That part of academic socialising is a great opportunity to network, and it’s those kind of little extras you miss out on as a self-funded student. Even something as small as having a quick coffee after a seminar leads to a whole set of calculations (I have £10 on me, but I need to buy a bus ticket and a book, and I have less than £10 in my account, so can’t have any more cash, but maybe if I use my card for coffee and don’t go out on Friday...), and that’s very difficult when it feels like everyone else can do that without even thinking about it.
I worked five to six days a week in a bathroom showroom for the entirety of my master’s. It definitely had an impact on my studies, not just in taking time away from studying/essay writing, but in time not spent on campus doing other additional learning. It’s also not a CV developing job – so I created two CVs, one for academia, and one for outside.
How much of a difference would a postgraduate loan have made for you?
I probably would have taken one. It would have made the year more an extension of studies, rather than studying around work, and so a better bridge between an MA and PhD. Having said that, it would have meant more debt, which would be difficult now, especially if combined with a PhD debt, or just attracting interest while I carried on studying.
Suzanne Nolan
Age: now 27, completed master’s in 2009
Course: MA in pre-Columbian and Native American art and architecture, University of Essex
Cost of course: £3,125
Total cost (including accommodation, travel, food etc): £9,000
How did you fund your course? from savings, working part-time and financial help from mum
I was very lucky during my MA – I had an active social life and was able to take part in a number of activities that I really enjoyed. It helped that for my favourite sport – Archery – I had been able to buy the equipment I needed during my undergraduate degree, so didn’t have any large expenditures for this.
I lived in a shared house where everyone was conscious of money. Each week, we would plan our meals together, and go shopping as a group, which meant we could cut the costs and only spend about £10-£15 a week each on food.
I spent the second and third year of my undergraduate degree working and saving so that I could afford my master’s course. I worked as a student caller for the alumni office, a student ambassador, academic assistant, and a cleaner. I was also exceptionally lucky because my mother agreed to help cover my accommodation costs, and was able to contribute towards my rent throughout my master’s. I was the first person in my family to go to university.
Working in shifts gave me productive time off from my studies, helped me earn some money for social activities, and gave me vital experience to put on my CV.
How much of a difference would a postgraduate loan have made for you?
It would not have made much difference to me during my master’s – it was only for a year, and I was pleased to have been able to complete it without incurring any additional debt.
Lucy Harrison
Age: now 25 (completed master’s in 2012)
Course: MA composition, Durham University 2011-12
Cost of course: £4,000
Total cost (including accommodation, travel, food etc): £11,700
How did you fund your course? career development loan and worked part-time in a chocolate shop
At times self-funding can be very difficult, it feels like an additional pressure that others don’t have. Once, I tried to save money by skimping on petrol to get to work. That ended up with me broken down by the side of the A1 motorway. This is not an experiment I ever repeated again.
It can be hard not to say something cutting when funded people complain about the pressures they’re under. But hey, I don’t know what pressures they’re under.
One thing that did always bug me about working through my master’s was the lack of flexibility with work. It can make you feel really isolated. I tried to arrange my shifts so that I could still be a leader at Brownies and take part in the same ensembles and pub quizzes. My friends would put in for the pub quiz before I finished work and have all the questions they couldn’t answer ready for me when I got there.
Although not ideal, self funding has given me an extra drive to succeed. At every point in my academic career I have evaluated what I want to do and what would be the benefits of further study. This drive has come completely from myself, and will hopefully give me good working habits that will help me further in my career.
How much of a difference would a postgraduate loan have made for you?
It would have made a huge difference. What isn’t made very clear about the career development loans is how inflexible they are about paying the loans back. This happens one month after finishing the course (not graduating), no matter what your circ*mstances. Although the loan made sure that I could study, I really wish that this had been made a lot clearer. I hope a postgraduate loan would address this.
John Donegan
Age: now 51, completed master’s in 2013
Course: MSc acupuncture, studying at the Northern College of Acupuncture, with the degree awarded through the University of Wales.
Cost of course: £9,000, studying part-time over three years
Total cost (including accommodation, travel, food etc): £11,900
How did you fund your course?
As a middle-aged mature student, I had some savings to draw on when I came to do my course, but I needed to put some extra money aside to fund the final year.
Doing a full-time job, attending college every second weekend during termtime, doing my coursework and spending all my annual leave entitlement on work placements or clinical experience turned me into a hermit for three years. I could barely afford an evening in the pub, let alone going out for a meal. I took up World of Warcraft, which became my surrogate social life, since at least it was cheap and distracting (I’ve now quit!)
Renting a room to a friend for some extra cash destroyed my privacy. It was mentally and sometimes physically exhausting. One of the few things that kept me going was the easy availability of freebie massages and acupuncture treatments from other students on the course. We were all in the same situation, and we all looked out for each other.
It didn’t so much impact on my studies as impact on me. I had less time to do all the assignments, and this meant I had to cope with some hellish deadlines.
How much of a difference would a postgraduate loan have made for you?
It wouldn’t have made a difference. I am averse to loans, and had I not been able to self-fund, or get a bursary, I would not have done the course. I come from a generation that had student grants, and the situation today where young people come out of university with massive debts (and that’s before they have to start thinking of mortgages), strikes me as utterly mad.
Adding a further burden of debt to people doing postgrads is just creating a generation of debt peons. The whole system just seems designed to squeeze everyone but the already rich out of pursuing studies in arts and humanities, since the investment is unlikely to be recouped by subsequent work opportunities.
Samuel Aylett
Age: 24
Course: MA modern world history, Brunel University
Cost of course: £5,190 (studying part-time)
Total cost (including accommodation, travel, food etc): £20,000
How did you fund your course? working full-time, part-time and a bursary
The sense of achievement certainly goes some way to making up for all the hardship, but the financial and mental health hardships are tough and can leave you feeling alone and hopeless. I suffered a great deal of financial problems which quickly became burdensome and has left me feeling unable to cope. I have outstanding council tax payments and a large overdraft.
I often worked six days a week and studied in the evenings. Working part-time in various jobs, including at a local museum and the university library, meant I had less time for independent study and research. It was difficult to access archives, which are open during regular working hours. The biggest impact for me was on my mental health.
How much of a difference would a postgraduate loan have made for you?
Not only would it have allowed me more time to spend on my studies rather than on finding ways to pay for my degree and making ends meet, but it would have also afforded me the time to cultivate myself academically outside the lecture theatre. I know too many bright and capable students that would have loved the opportunity to undertake further study, but are unable to due to the large and often unreachable financial commitment. Further study should be available to all who have the passion, commitment, and ability to undertake a postgraduate degree not just to those who have the money.
- Did you self-fund your master’s course? Share your experience and tell us whether you think the government should introduce a postgraduate loan.
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