PROPOSALS to give every student at a Scottish university or college a guaranteed minimum income of more than £8000 a year, will be unveiled today.
Effectively, the proposal means students at universities and colleges become eligible for the living wage.
The idea is reportedly one of the key policies being put forward by an independent review of student support, set up by the government in October 2016.
Chaired by Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money, the group were tasked with reviewing the current financial student support system, and to consider how student support meets the needs of the students from the poorest backgrounds and the most vulnerable.
It was also asked to look how to ensure all students can “access a fair and effective package of appropriate support”.
According to the Sunday Herald, the call for minimum student income entitlement of £8100 is at the heart of the findings in the report A New Social Contract for Students — Fairness, Parity and Clarity.
A review group source told the paper: “We understand that there is a big debate to be had about the balance of how this is resourced.
“Establishing a minimum student income would be a huge step forward and taken together our recommendations amount to the best student support package that would be available in the UK.”
Scottish students at university in Scotland already benefit from free tuition. However, the £8100 guaranteed income is part of a series of measures aimed at easing the debt burden on students.
The review will set out three choices for Ministers: greater spending, less spending or no additional public spending.
However, the key living wage recommendation will cost the government’s coffers an additional £16m a year.
The report will present a series of different options for covering the cost of the minimum student income.
A mix of changes to grants and bursaries, as well as improved terms for student loans are to be unveiled in the report. Debt will be written-off for students going on from colleges to universities, under the plans.
Currently, university students can borrow up to £5750 a year to help pay living costs, but support for college students is much lower.
However, the review group is expected to say that student loans should also be made available to all those attending further education colleges.
The source said: “The priority is getting the right structure in place now and the level of public spend will be decided according to political choices and overall resources available in future budgets and spending reviews.
“As well as clear benefits to the individual and society, the return on investment is huge — for every £1 of public spending in further and higher education, there is almost £6 of economic impact.”
Speaking ahead of the report, a Scottish Government spokesman said: “This Government firmly believes that access to higher education should be based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay, which is why we remain committed to ensuring Scottish students studying in Scotland benefit from free tuition.
“We look forward to the findings of the independent review of student support report and will work with stakeholders and other interested parties to ensure that we continue to offer the best possible support to students in Scotland.”
Lib Dem education spokesperson Tavish Scott damned the government with faint praise: “The SNP have been in power for a decade. They promised to end student debt and have done the opposite. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are worse off in Scotland than England. So whatever is announced can only be an improvement.”on this lamentable record.”
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