Summer Budget 2015

tapzilla2k

Default is perhaps not the correct term. However the number of student loans that will be repaid was revised down last year -
Unpaid student loans 'a fiscal time bomb for universities' | Education | The Guardian

University funding will become a thorny issue if enough students fail to pay the loans back. Due to my varied interests, I'm friends with a University lecturer in the classics. The pressures are mounting up.

Not enough funding is the main issue with apprenticeships.

pragmatic

Well that's a different thing, the state is still subsidising uni/students as well as landlords, I'd hope the playbook of ending state subsidy as we've seen in this election gets extended.

IronGiant

The Universities get paid the fees directly and upfront, so it won't affect them unless students stop going.  However, I can see a major shake up on the cards when the Government wake up to the fact it's an unsustainable way of funding them (the universities).

Member 581642

Does anyone know what percentage the government factored in for none repayment

tapzilla2k

Well if you want to reduce the amount Landlords rake in from Housing benefit then you have to increase social housing and housing association stock. I do think we may end up in a housing crunch where there are not enough rental properties at an affordable level.

As far as University goes ? That has to be funded as it's vital to the Economy, but we also have to invest a lot more money into vocational qualifications to bridge the skills shortage. But I always think we need a wide ranging shake up of Education as a whole. Measuring success by Exams is leading to children developing mental health problems. We should be preparing them for GCSE, A-Levels and Vocational Qualifications. Not exams designed to give the Government of the day headlines.

From what I've heard Universities are not managing their funding at all well. Pressures on those who teach at University has shot up. Student loans are the wrong way to fund university. We have to look at it as an investment in the Economy. I've never really got the obsession we seem to have for going to University. Sure I understand the benefits a degree can give people. But we are neglecting those whose skills lay elsewhere.

Member 581642

So is my daughter but she gets that its not like a normal loan.

She has friends whose parents paid off the loan which seems nonsense

tapzilla2k

I'd be more than happy to pay a bit more in tax if meant Universities could be funded without student loans. That's another thing that annoys me about the budget - Osborne still hasn't addressed the crucial choice - Higher taxes with lower borrowing or lower taxes with borrowing to cover shortfalls. Once the deficit has been dealt, we really need to look at the national debt with a long term view of how we are going to reduce it. My fear is we'll end up having to go to the IMF at some point for a bailout.

IronGiant

Are you suggesting that the State should stop funding Further Education at all?

tapzilla2k

That would be pure insanity.