In 2020-2021, 94% of undergraduates in England took out government-backed loans to fund their higher education. The growing and widespread use of student loans in England, mounting student debt, and governments' increasing dependence on tuition fees underwritten by loans to finance public higher education raise important questions which this paper…

The valorization of skills in English higher education policy-making is a long-standing refrain, informing both rhetoric and investment from government and shaping university behaviour. Critiques of the 'skills agenda' are equally established, on grounds of its contested evidence base, manner of implementation and even its very definition. This…

Transfer pathways are commonly associated with cost savings to students within the policy world. However, few have ventured to empirically examine whether traveling transfer pathways result in savings for students. Through this article, we report on analyses of this topic drawing on a custom linkage between Toronto District School Board,…

The unwillingness of the Somali community to finance higher education has largely gone unnoticed within the academic literature and government policy documents. This study explores the role of religion and the influence of Shari'ah scholars on the use of interest-bearing student loans within the Somali community. In the absence of any theoretical…

Purpose: To identify the financial stress and associate factors of tertiary level student. Design/methodology/approach: To identify the financial stress and associate factors, a structured questionnaire was developed to collect data from 571 students of different universities of Bangladesh through Google form. Chi square and Cramer's "V"…

This Policy Note explains the changes in the student accommodation market that have led to higher rents. Following the recent announcement that the maximum maintenance loan in England will increase by only 2.5% in 2024/25 and the fact that rents have been rising faster than maintenance support, this report outlines a possible a new approach,…

A government-established student loans institute known as Instituto Colombiano de Credito Educativo y Estudios Tecnicos en el Exterior (ICETEX) has been instrumental in improving access to higher education in Colombia. This article uses the capability approach to analyze the ways in which ICETEX has contributed to loan recipients' well-being and…

In the last three years there have been big changes in rent levels and the supply of student accommodation, driven and shaped by global and national economic turbulence. High inflation, high energy costs, high building costs and high interest rates have combined to produce unprecedented rises in rent. Because of this rapid change, Unipol have run…

Increased reliance on student loans to finance higher education (HE) raises concerns about unequal access and repayment burdens. However, who borrows and what motivates students and parents to borrow remain unclear. A longitudinal survey tracked parents and students from high school into their early career to explore the effects of socioeconomic…

Purpose: This study analyzed the impact on the persistence of Chilean university students who had received a government-guaranteed loan (CAE). Design/methodology/approach: Using academic and administrative data from 2016 to 2019, provided by 11 Chilean universities, a discrete-time survival model was constructed. The model was based on data of…

The paper studies the impact of financial aid on long-term educational attainment and labor market outcomes in Colombia. In 2014, the government launched a large-scale and generous student loan program called "Ser Pilo Paga." It offered full tuition coverage to students admitted to one of 33 government-certified high-quality universities…

This paper uses new administrative data with detailed borrower information and lengthy repayment histories from the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP) to measure rates of return on undergraduate student loans. We document substantial heterogeneity in returns based on information available at the time loans were disbursed, including province of…

This mixed research study focused on the selection criterion and guidelines used by the Higher Education Students Financing Board (HESFB) in granting students loan scheme to University Students in Uganda with a sample from Makerere University. Findings revealed that the majority of the loan beneficiaries are aware of these guidelines and one to…

This article presents the results of two projects exploring the experiences of working-class students in elite colleges. The first project is a nation-wide study that included 19 focus groups with 183 program participants of a condonable loan program, and additional interviews and focus groups with non-scholarship students, professors and…

The 'Higher Education Policy Statement and Reform Consultation' was launched in February 2022 with responses required by May 2022. This online consultation included 16 closed questions, which have been analysed quantitatively, and 29 open text boxes, which have been analysed qualitatively and the frequency of themes summarised quantitatively. The…