Monday August 15th, 2005
I just received an email from a parent who’s daughter wants to be a lawyer, but needs to borrow £20k to do it for postgrad funding yet none is available. As a single parent she can’t help and is lost to know what to do. Thought I’d copy you in on my response.
There is a huge poverty of funding of postgraduate education in the UK. You’ll find articles on the site on career development loans and if you look into the student finance section you’ll see links to a website that lists grants and scholarships – you’d be amazed what’s there.
Ultimately though there is a lack of cash. We’ve seen higher education expand from around 10% of the population in 1989 to around 50% now. A degree has become commonplace, and we’re seeing many graduates struggle to have their expectations of employment met. So, then, to ‘show I’m different’ the student takes steps to get a postgrad and yet there’s limited funding. So here we are, a nation that educates students into debt when they go to university with students loans, educates them further into debt to make a difference with a postgrad, yet never educates them about debt and leaves them underfunded and potentially exposed for a long time to a dangerous cash situation.
Can I help? No. You’ve written to me – but perhaps this is one to write to your MP about and ask why?
Martin
