Student loans on the horizon for 2018 - nearly

Tuesday 17 October 2017

Next year’s new university students might jet set from the island with a little extra money in their pockets.

The Chief Minister confirmed yesterday that a special sub-committee involving himself, the Education Minister and the Treasury Minister were working on new student finance proposals with a view to allowing the 2018 intake to benefit.

The Committee, he said, were currently considering five options - whittled down from 10 – with the “preferred options all involv[ing] a type of student loan.” All five of which will relate to undergraduate loans, Education Minister Rod Bryans explained, but postgraduate options will form part of a further review in the near future.

While he did not offer detail on the proposals, Senator Ian Gorst said that the sub-group would be “prepared” to amend the Public Finances Law so that the government could borrow enough in order that the government could underwrite student loans. However, he explained that this would only be necessary if a private organisation did not support the endeavour.

His comments came during a Scrutiny Hearing held by the Education Panel, which published a damning report earlier this year, which showed that Jersey currently spends less than any other OECD country on higher education for its students.

Pictured: The Chief Minister confirmed that the sub-committee had come up with five options they felt were viable in solving the island's ongoing student finance issue.

Their report also highlighted that families in the ‘middle income’ bracket – who do not fit the criteria for a full university grant, but also cannot cover the full costs themselves – were particularly vulnerable, with some even having to remortgage their homes to allow their children to gain a degree.

The Panel’s members had also on numerous occasions highlighted the length of time it had taken for the relevant ministers to address the issue. In yesterday’s hearing, Senator Gorst admitted: “It’s taken longer than it probably ought to have done to recognise that for some families [student finance] was a real problem… It’s easier to say it’s only a small cohort, it’s only an individual case, rather than looking at a wider cross-section of the community.”

Nonetheless, he responded to questioning by Panel member Deputy Louise Doublet that he was “confident” that the final proposal brought forward would satisfy the needs of middle earners.

Chief Executive Officer for the Education Department Justin Donovan explained that all five of the final options had been selected using four criteria: affordability both to the States and to the individual, fairness to the taxpayer, the extent to which it would increase the debt of individuals and the potential risk of defaulting and how effective the scheme would be in encouraging take-up of a university degree.

He added that he envisaged consultations taking place and finishing before Christmas.

Pictured: The Higher Education Funding Sub-Committee - Education Minister Deputy Rod Bryans, Chief Minister Senator Ian Gorst and Treasury Minister Senator Alan Maclean, who did not attend the Scrutiny hearing.

Nonetheless, it remains unclear at this stage as to when exactly the five proposals will be laid out before States Members. Senator Gorst said that these were expected “alongside the Budget”, but not on the same day as the debate on 28 November.

The Treasury Minister was not in attendance at the meeting to confirm this. Senator Gorst said that this was because the Panel “unfortunately” did not invite the Minister. This was swiftly rebuffed, however, by Panel Chair Deputy Jeremy Macon, who assured him that no one was “snubbed” and that he had expected the Chief Minister, as head of the sub-group, to do so.

While much of the discussion focused around the fresh financing proposals, the Education Minister took the time to praise the work of University College Jersey, the part of Highlands in which students can achieve degrees through partnership with UK universities.

He said that UCJ had largely answered the calls of the private sector – particularly within the construction and engineering sectors – and would have a positive impact on Jersey’s economy.

Asked by Deputy Louise Doublet whether Jersey graduates’ degrees were accurately meeting the needs of the island, the Chief Minister responded: “It’s the ability to study to degree level and do well that in lots of cases is just as important as the relationship between the subject and the job, and that’s what employers are looking for more and more. We might argue that there are an area of degrees that are much less relevant to our economy, but I do think that it’s a difficult argument for us to make that there is this big division.”

Pictured: Deputy Bryans applauded the work of University College Jersey, which is based at Highlands.

Next on the agenda, Deputy Bryans concluded, will be to see if Jersey can begin to offer its own degrees.