Student Financing - Highlands College - Submissions - 23 December 2016

Questions the college has been asked to address

1.  In what respects does Highlands College consider that the current system of student

financing meets or fails to meet the needs of young people and their families in Jersey?

2.  In the opinion of Highlands College, whose responsibility is it to finance university

education?

3.  What changes, if any, would Highlands College, like to see to the current system that

would greater assist young people in achieving their ambitions?

4.  Are students attending degree courses in Jersey rather than elsewhere for financial

reasons?

5.  Highlands has University Partners, are other universities being considered?

6.  How does Highlands identify the needs of Jersey's young people?

Context

The funding of Higher, Tertiary or University Education is a complex issue and relates to

courses and qualifications at undergraduate level (levels 4, 5 and 6) for students aged 18 and

over. In the UK, as in most of Europe, entry to Higher Education has been largely based on merit

rather than on ability to pay. This was enshrined in the Robbins Report (1963) into Higher

Education which established the notion of widening participation and an expansion of Higher

Education in the UK; it rejected the idea of student loans and recommended the retention of a

grant aided system. In 1962, the participation rate in HE was 7% of the UK population (this had

doubled since 1950) and the Robbins Report recommended a further expansion of 10% over the

subsequent 5 years. At this point in time there was also a clearer distinction between Universities

and Polytechnics or Colleges of Higher Education. Universities were largely established along

the lines of Cardinal Newman's (1854) idea of scholars following a liberal arts education for no

other external purpose than learning for learning's sake, with the notable exceptions of

engineering, medicine and law. Polytechnics and Colleges of Higher Education had a much

more technical and vocational focus with work-related goals in mind. Thirty years later the

demarcation between universities and polytechnics had become distinctly blurred and the

Further and Higher Education Act (1992), incorporated all institutions previously under local

authority control and enabled them to use the title University.

The Dearing Report (1997) into Higher Education proposed a further expansion of higher level

qualifications and skills to meet the demands of the economy and the introduction of top-up fees'

to help fund it. In 1998, a top-up fee of £1,000 per year was introduced. The government set a

target to expand the number of university places by 2010 to 50% of 18 to 30 year olds

participating in higher education, by 2011/12 participation rates were at 49%. The Higher

Education Act (2004) introduced variable fees which started at £3,000 and set up the Student

Loan company. The Browne Review into Higher Education (2010) recommended a fuller

introduction of tuition fees and the subsequent Higher Education Act allowed universities to set

their own market-driven fees of between £6,000 and £9,000. The student loans system was

changed so that there was no up-front payment and repayments would not start until the

individual started earning more than £21,000. Repayments are designed to be affordable, are a

percentage of earnings and any outstanding amounts are written off after 30 years. The system

is equitable in the sense that it is not means tested and anyone resident in England for at least 3

years prior to starting university is eligible for a full tuition and maintenance loan. From this point

on, the government in England has only committed to spend public money on Higher Education

to support higher cost science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, widening

participation initiatives and small specialist institutions (£12.1 billion in 15/16).

It is important to recognise that, since the devolution acts in Scotland, Wales and Northern

Ireland in 1998, all of the post-Dearing recommendations and subsequent legislation related to

Higher Education only applies to England. Only students resident in England have access to the

Student Loans systems but they have to pay tuition fees if they attend university in one of the

other UK countries (and EU countries that charge fees), whereas residents of Northern Ireland,

Scotland and Wales have their tuition fees paid by their home country. None of the above

legislation or regulation applies to residents of Jersey of course, but the effect of these changes

means that Jersey students do not have this more favourable access to funding as their UK

counterparts.

In fact residents of the Channel Islands have been an attractive proposition for English

Universities in the past as they have effectively been treated as additional overseas income and

have sat outside any number controls or tuition fee restrictions. Currently, the three UK off-shore

islands have a special arrangement, with the majority of UK universities, and are charged the

upper limit of the UK tuition fee rather than the overseas rate which is typically 25% higher.

Funding of Higher Education, both tuition fees and maintenance fees, for Jersey resident

students is therefore a local issue and the responsibility for policy making on this issue rests with

the Government of Jersey.

Jersey has a different approach to funding education than the UK which can be characterised

by the higher proportion of secondary aged pupils who receive a substantial subsidy to be

educated privately and that there exists a means-tested grants system for HE of around £8

million. An 11-16 year old in Jersey can access a private education if they meet the entry

requirements, can afford the relatively modest tuition fees or gain a scholarship but only those

students who can afford to self-finance a university education or those whose household income

falls below £53,900 (for tuition fees) or £26,750 (for fees and £5,500 grant) can access a

university education even if they have the grades to progress. All students have to pay or take

out a loan for the first £1500 in Jersey and have to be resident for 5 years to be eligible, whereas

in the UK eligibility is 3 years residency. This is counter to the culture of the rest of the UK which

has a declared commitment to both widening participation and social mobility through Higher

Education. Higher Education in the UK is an option open to all citizens on merit with a clear

recognition that a degree increases social and economic benefits. In Jersey, Higher Education

appears to be viewed as optional, "supporting children to achieve their aspirations through

optional education to become independent earners" (see p7 of the Higher Education Funding

report to the States on 10/5/2016) rather than as a democratic right to enable all its citizens to

achieve their educational potential on merit to maximise their contribution to society.

1.  In what respects does Highlands College consider that the current system of student

financing meets or fails to meet the needs of young people and their families in

Jersey?

In simple terms, the current system meets the needs of those whose household income falls

below £53,900 (for tuition fees) or £26,750 (for fees and £5,500 grant) and, who can afford to

find the first £1500 in Jersey, and the associated living costs. The annual cohort of school

leavers in Jersey is around 1000 young people which, extrapolated across a typical 3-year

degree course, is a cohort size of 3000. In 2015/16, 155 students are studying HE on island

(5%), 948 in the UK (32%) and 30 elsewhere (1%); this suggests that 38% of potential HE

learners are studying at this level from Jersey compared with the UK average of 49%. The

Sutton Trust research indicates that young people and families from lower income families are

risk-averse when it comes to accumulating debt associated with education and this may well

apply to families in Jersey, especially where cost of living expenses are higher. Having a grants

system is therefore a far more desirable option compared with a student loans system but, in

order for it to meet the needs of young people and their families, the funding pot would need to

be greater (probably twice the size), the means tested thresholds would need to be higher for

fees and grants (with the grant maximum being raised to around £10,000 for off-island

accommodation) and the tuition fee only threshold lower and applied pro-rata where there is

more than one family member at university.

There is capacity on-island to at least double the number of students attending Higher

Education and this could be incentivised by using around £5 million to fund a University of Jersey

(this could include Health Education, the Institute of Law and University College Jersey) where

islanders could receive a virtually free HE education (as is the case with Malta) and anyone

wanting to study a course elsewhere when it is available on island would have to be prepared to

cover the costs. There would need to be exceptions where financial viability in subject areas

such as medicine and engineering would still require students to attend off island institutions. To

ensure an enriching HE experience for islanders, the option of attracting students from off-island,

as well as visiting academics and researchers, would need to be part of the discussion and

development of a Jersey University. Attracting students to Jersey would also bring further

economic and social benefits that do not currently exist.

2.  In the opinion of Highlands College, whose responsibility is it to finance university

education?

This is an ideological question. Within the British Isles, there is already an ideological divide

between the three countries that have devolved powers for education and that of England: the

former believing that it is the States' responsibility to fund university education and the latter

whose policy it is to provide the initial finance but with the expectation that individuals will repay

the State investment in their education over time. The English system is the typical British

compromise of the State having overall responsibility for Higher Education but shifting some of

that responsibility from all taxpayers to the individuals who will directly benefit from a university

education. On current estimates, no more than 50% of student loans will be recouped, meaning

that in 30 years' time, the taxpayers of future generations will be left to deal with the debt burden:

the "put off until tomorrow what you could have done today" approach. This approach is not a

viable option in an island economy like Jersey.

The straightforward answer to the question, is that it is society's responsibility to finance

university education, so it depends upon how you position the individual citizen in relation to the

institutions and governmental structures of our society. One of the fundamental principles of our

society must be fairness. Is it fair, therefore, that an individual with high net worth who has

achieved the grades to enter a university can do so with relative ease, whereas an individual

without the financial means, but with the same or even better academic credentials, is unable to

do so?

Another consideration is the role of the employer. The Apprenticeship Levy in England is going

to change the landscape of higher education because large employers who are providing the

State with income for training will want to recoup that money by providing their own graduate

training programmes. Highlands College, for example, as an employer, is paying for one of our

interns to take a degree as part of their training and there are contractual means to ensure that

the employer, as well as the employee, can benefit from this investment in Higher Education.

This is a model that could be explored further within the States and with island-based employers.

The idea of patronage of the young, gifted and talented to support a university education

through the philanthropy of high worth individuals, estates and trusts is also an avenue worth

further exploration.

3.  What changes, if any, would Highlands College, like to see to the current system that

would greater assist young people in achieving their ambitions?

This is largely covered in the answer to Q2, but in summary this is Highlands' vision in

response to this question.

1.  The establishment of a Jersey University that brings together all the opportunities for on-

island study under one partnership or management board. This is effectively a suggestion

to implement the recommendation of the Goldstein Report into Higher Education that

reported to the States on April 12th 2005. One of the main recommendations was to

establish a Higher Education Academy and for the on-island provision to be expanded.

This outcome has never been achieved and the lack of any co-ordinated approach for HE

development, recommended by Dr Michael Goldstein, has resulted in the fragmented HE

offer that currently exists in Jersey. HE provision is currently distributed across 6 different

institutions: Nursing and Health Education through University of Chester based at the

hospital; Business and Finance degrees at Jersey International Business School through

the University of Buckingham; Law at the Institute of Law, through University of London, a

range of work-based degrees at University College Jersey (Highlands) through the

Universities of Plymouth and London South Bank and post-graduate degrees proposed by

Digital Jersey in Cyber Security and the Jersey International Centre for Advanced Studies

(JICAS) in Island Conservation Studies. Greater economies of scale, a more homogenous

higher education study environment for students and a closer academic community could

be achieved if the States was to make a strategic decision to create a single University

institution. The Goldstein proposal was to create a university that focussed solely on the

skills needs of the island's industries with work-based learning at its core. A lot has

happened since 2005 and the concept of a Jersey University would need to embrace at

least some elements of a more liberal and research-based curriculum.

2.  Make Higher Education study on island free for all students at undergraduate level who

have not already obtained an undergraduate qualification and only providing funding for

courses and qualifications that are not available on island.

5.  Highlands has University Partners, are other universities being considered?

Highlands has two significant University Partners but the relationship with each is different.

The relationship with the University of Plymouth is one where the university acts as the awarding

body and has responsibility for quality assurance but the teaching and assessment is done solely

by University College Jersey (Highlands) staff. The University charges the college examination

and accreditation fees and in return students have full access to the on-line facilities of the

University of Plymouth and the university confers the degrees. The relationship with London

South Bank is different in that their university staff teach and assess a significant proportion of

their degrees and students are tutored locally by Highlands' staff. In addition to paying for

examination fees, accreditation and quality assurance processes, Highlands also pays the

University for a significant proportion of the teaching.

Other universities have been considered but UK universities are not exactly queuing up to

become partners in Jersey because there is not a great deal in it for them financially. Working in

partnership with a UK university also has the potential of reducing the 400 or so students who

currently apply to UK universities still further. Compared with the fee income a university gets

from a student, the income from a franchised degree is only around 7% of this figure and the

university also loses out on income from student accommodation.

The University of Plymouth has a strategic commitment to partnership working in the south-

west of England, including the Channel Islands, which its near neighbour, Exeter University, for

example, does not. Highlands' partnership with Plymouth University is robust and continues to

develop into a true partnership where the university has become more responsive and flexible in

its approach to supporting the needs of our students and employers.

There have been discussions in the past regarding whether a UK university might develop an

offshore campus where the university would retain the full funding for students but this has not

been pursued since the publication of the Goldstein Report in 2005.

There are other possible options for the future worth exploring:

(a) Working with the University of London External Examinations department as the Institute of

Law already does. This is an option for subject areas such as humanities, economics and

sciences but the degrees are designed for an overseas market and are entirely

examination based.

(b) Since Jersey is not part of the UK jurisdiction for Higher or University education it could set

up its own University with its own degree awarding powers using the UK quality assurance

process as a model. This would be a long-term project and it would take time to develop a

reputation and credibility. The University of Malta, for example, has its own degree

awarding powers as does the University of Gibraltar for its post-graduate awards.

(c) Re-kindling the relationship with the Open University and using their accreditation service

to develop degrees that meet local needs.

6.  How does Highlands identify the needs of Jersey's young people?

Highlands has a strong partnership with the island's 11-16 secondary schools and can gather

information about young people's needs through the career's service and the college's own

transition team. It is also important to consider the island's economic and skills needs and to

prepare young people for the jobs that are available. Increasingly, young people need to be more

enterprising and flexible in their approach to work and learning as they will inevitably change

careers more times in their lifetime than previous generations. The important factor in relation to

Higher Education is to ensure that young people have progression routes and employability skills

and can self-market themselves. Whatever the subject matter of a degree and the motivational

interest that hooks young people in, there also needs to be a focus on how to work and progress

within an island community and economy.

Highlands also carries out research and runs focus groups with other 16-18 providers to gather

data about young people's interests and needs. From this exercise, for example, a new degree is

in development for a 2017 start in Psychology and Criminology. A degree in Social Work is in

development for 2018 because it has been identified within Children's Services that there is a

need to support Jersey's young people by having more locally based and trained social workers

for the future.

Higher Education is not just limited to full-time degrees but can be through part-time study or

through a Higher Apprenticeship. The first evidence of this approach to higher education will be

seen in partnership with Trackers and the Hospitality Industry when the Higher Apprenticeship in

Hospitality Management is launched in 2017.