15 May Are Universities or the government to blame in failing our young people?
The rate of University dropouts has been on the rise for three consecutive years, figures from HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) show, but is there a meaning that hides beyond these statistics? Pascal Kempson investigates.
University is often billed through your academic years as the only viable option if you want a successful career and dare I say life. Despite a recent push for more attention to be shown to apprenticeships, its highly likely that if you’re a reasonably high achieve through school your teachers will be having you fill out UCAS forms and applications from seventeen years old. It’s supposed to be an unforgettable experience, where you learn about yourself, perhaps live away from home for the first time, combine the social elements with you eduction and have the time of your life. So, if that really is the case, why are more and more students opting either not to go to University at all, or dropping out after just a year?
To begin with, theres the cost. Gone are the days of a free University education. Gone are the days of a University education costing £3000. It now costs a staggering £9,250 for one year of full-time education in the England, and alongside a maintenance loan there is potential to leave University with over £50,000 worth of debt. Student debt in England has gone over £100bn for the first time in history, with a high proportion of that considered to be un-payable. The Government have taken to attempting to sell off this debt to private companies, thus shirking responsibility and moving away from the idea that University education should be a publicly funded scheme.
The disparity between levels of income amongst families has a direct impact on what kind of students attend university. Les Ebdon, the director of Fair Access to Higher Education, told the BBC in late 2017 that “Young people from the most advantaged backgrounds are still 5.5 times more likely to enter universities with the highest entrance requirements than their disadvantaged peers”. Students from the poorer areas of the country surely have the same aspirations as others, yet the difference in University attendees is so great that it would be impossible not assume some kind of correlation between family income and University prospects.
An article from The Guardian references some more shocking statistics from UCAS, stating “This summer’s Ucas admission data showed that the entry rate for pupils on free school meals was nearly 17%, while the entry rate for other pupils was close to 34%”. These figures suggest that if you’re in a position to not receive free school meals, you have double the chances of attending University.
Further statistics from NUS, the national union for students, found that at least one third of university students had witnessed some kind of harassment or bullying of working class students due to their background whilst at University. This revelation has come as a shock to many, but perhaps not the people who fall victim to such assaults. I spoke with a female first year student from the University of Greenwich, who wished to remain unnamed, about what kind of abuse she has received. “It’s really damaging to your confidence” she began, “It’s kind of like, well, we’re all here to learn, why does it matter what kind of background I’ve come from? It’s not always direct name-calling but more a generalisation. They expect it to just roll off my back I guess but these things actually hurt.”
She continued, “It’s already hard enough to balance all my studies, my friends and having to work a part time job to support myself, I really don’t need to be made to feel bad about my families situation. I wish that I could have my parents support me but it’s not like that for everyone. Sometimes it really does make me want to leave [dropout] and just go straight in to work.” The working aspect was one I hadn’t really thought about until my interviewee brought it up. If the Government loan barely covers your accommodation, as is so often the case especially in cities such as London, then it is vital that you are to have a part time job to support your life.
A 2013 study again from NUS showed that 57% of University students worked a part time job whilst at University. 90% of these part time workers admitted to working up to 20 hours per week. The UoG student I had spoken to had only worked 8 hours per week and still struggled, I wanted to speak to someone who was right up there with his working hours.
Jacob Williams, his last name has been changed by request, was a student of The University of Winchester and began studying in 2016, before dropping out of the institution at the end of his first year. He had a part-time job of 20 hours and studied Classics. “Classics is a very difficult subject to study without 100% effort and concentration. It’s a very high workload but it was always something I enjoyed.” Jacob stated. He’d been interested in classical civilisations from a very young age and was excited to finally be able to study it full time; “I finally go to do something that I really enjoyed every day.” But then he got his reality check, as so many University students do in their first year. “After the first loan had been used for my accommodation and bare essentials, I realised that I would have to find a job or else risk running out of money completely”
This is a reality that plenty of students find themselves in, but there wasn’t a simple solution “I found that if I wanted to feel secure financially, basically have enough money to feed myself and enjoy my social life, I needed to work 20 hours a week. It might not sound like a lot but with the type of course I was doing, it certainly felt like it”. Suddenly, the course that Jacob was so excited to begin had turned in to a nightmare, the essays began to pile up and the subject that he loved was becoming something he dreaded. “The workload was unreal, within a month I had 5 essays to write and finding the time to do so with working was near on impossible. There are only so many hours in a day you know?”
Jacob found himself being more concerned with his job than his degree, despite the former being part-time. “I had very little support from my parents who were giving everything they could but I felt guilty to ask for money that they themselves had worked for. It put me in a very difficult position mentally. I felt like a failure to my parents for struggling to juggle my needs, and I felt like a failure on my course. Always handing in my essays late or asking for extensions. It all got a bit too much.”
After months of suffering, in March of 2017 Jacob had decided enough was enough. It’s something he still feels shame about today. “I just gave up. It wasn’t an easy decision because I understand the benefits of having a University education, and it was something I had never seen myself doing. I achieved good results at GCSE and A-Level so to be finding myself not making the grade at University I was embarrassed. I definitely feel as if it is almost completely a direct result of having to work so many hours to support myself. If I could’ve given my undivided attention to the course I think I would be doing ok, and still be there today.”
He wanted to stress to me the pressure that you’re under is unlike anything experienced before, he explained “I haven’t had the easiest of lives, but to get to the point where University is damaging my mental health, I felt a line had to be drawn. I was the first one in my family to go to University, whether that’s down to our circumstances or choice, and I was so proud of that. Now, that pride has gone.”
University is meant to be a place to realise dreams and unlock your potential. Not damage your psyche and leave you in mountains of debt. If you’re from a more disadvantaged background, University should be something you strive towards, to prove your greatness. It should not be a point of scorn but of positivity. University should be a place to learn, to be inspired. It should not leave you with no money, struggling to balance working and studying to the point it breaks you.
There has to an answer to how we can change the experiences for the less fortunate students who want to study and live a ‘better’ life, without condemning them to hours of work and ridicule. Whether it be lower tuition fees, free education, or simply maintenance grants to help support our young adults, University may once again return to a place only for the elites and the rich.
The sources for the data used are listed below:
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/08-03-2018/non-continuation-tables
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-40511184
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/mar/08/university-drop-out-rates-uk-rise-third-year
