Postgraduate education: better funding and better access

This publication likens postgraduate education to 'an exclusive golf club' which is becoming increasingly exclusive amid rising tuition fees and real terms cuts to research and funding council support. In joint chapter with the National Union of Students (NUS), CentreForum urges the government to implement an undergraduate style loans scheme for postgraduate taught courses. It is argued that a more restricted loans scheme could be piloted within the government's existing higher education budget before being rolled out in full. In addition, the report urges universities to take steps towards expanding their endowment capacity and accessing financial markets to enable postgraduate students to draw loans. It also calls for data to be collected to assess how far current funding arrangements are suppressing demand for postgraduate study, as well as a review of the rules, regulations and funding structures in postgraduate education.

Excerpts from abstract from publisher's website.

The contents are as follows: Introduction - The state of postgraduate education; Existing types of funding; The funding shortfall; The case for more funding; Voice of the economist / Joanne Lindley and Stephen Machin; Voice of the student / Rachel Wenstone and Adam Wright (including case studies); Voice of the employer / David Cairncross; Voice of academia - Between [postgraduate teaching] PGT and [postgraduate research] PGR: Doctoral programmes at home and abroad / Nigel Vincent; Don't forget PGR funding / Wendy Piatt; The case for postgraduate loans / Tom Frostick, Tom Gault and Adam Wright; What else can be done? - Government talks, flexible learning and private finance / Joel Mullan; Endowments / Conor Ryan; Pricing and competition, supportive rules and regulations / Andy Westwood; Conclusions and recommendations. Show less