This essay, shortlisted for the AHUA Dr Jonathan Nicholls Memorial Essay Prize, addresses recent policy attention on student maintenance funding in the United Kingdom. It proposes the establishment of a graduate-funded endowment in lieu of other measures such as increased parental contributions or the imposition of a graduate tax. After discussing…

In this new Policy Note, Rachel Hewitt, HEPI Director of Policy and Advocacy, reports on the results of a new poll of students on Augar, funding and the cost of living. Key points: (1) Students' views are mixed between the current tuition fee model and Augar's recommendation to lower fees: 40% prefer the current system of £9,250 paid back over 30…

The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges for higher education across the UK. This year's cohort of university applicants now face months of uncertainty, as they try to make decisions on their future amid exam cancellations and a new system to determine grades, all without face-to-face support from their school. For students currently…

The funding of students in UK higher education (HE) has undergone radical reform over the past two decades. Using a unique dataset, this paper investigates student expectations of debt. We find that a student's gender, ethnicity, and year of study play an important role in determining their expected debt. Students in receipt of financial support…

The expansion of post?16 education in the United Kingdom makes young people more dependent, and for longer, on their parents. Generational change has been so great that parents with no history of postschool education are now expected to support children while they study. Some parents adhere to a working-class belief in self-sufficiency through…

New methods of financing higher education used in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom are summarized and compared. The paper concludes that while these approaches are designed to improve efficiency, realize specific outcomes, and leverage additional funds from other sources, they may have unanticipated, unintended, and, in some…

This report compares education systems, incentives, and evidence of saving for education in four countries--Denmark, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States--with implications for the United Kingdom. The report's objective is to identify evidence of saving for education in each comparator country, along with government policies and mechanisms…

This article outlines the elements that were included in a study that measured the cost of providing informal care to children (ages 4-10) with autism. The application of the instrument in a study of 15 families offers tentative evidence on the parental economic burden and the costs of informal care. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Higher education costs are borne by four parties: taxpayers, parents, students, and philanthropists. From a cost-sharing paradigm, a number of public policy instruments may be viewed as devices to apportion higher education's costs among their potential bearers. (MLW)

A survey of 1,720 second-year undergraduates at the University of Brighton (England) gathered basic demographic information and data on their financial status, including the form(s) of student financial aid applied for and awarded, parent contributions and other income sources, housing, transportation, and school and other costs. (MSE)

The educational and living costs of undergraduate studies and the ways these costs are shared among parents, students, taxpayers, and philanthropists/donors are considered for five countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, and Sweden. Five policy issues that are linked to how costs are shared by…