ABSTRACT
The student grants system was introduced in 1962 as a result of the recommendations made by a government committee chaired by Sir Colin Anderson. The response, which did not incorporate all the recommendations, was the introduction of a means-tested system based upon parental income. This financial commitment in the 1960s covered an elite educational provision for the 5% of school leavers who entered universities. However, by the mid 1990s, over 30% were entering higher education and the Treasury bill was deemed to be unacceptably high. Until 1990, UK university students paid no tuition fees and received a tax-funded maintenance grant to cover living costs. The 1990s heralded serious inroads into the State’s financial contribution to higher education with a move away from the system of maintenance grants in favour of a student loan scheme. This steady move away from the central funding of students was completed by the Labour government in the academic year 1998-99 when it introduced the payment of scaled tuition fees by students coupled with the abolition of maintenance grants a year later. Today, students are reliant upon the student loan, coupled with a range of private support facilities including paid employment. Whilst the problem of student debt is not novel,2 its privatisation, placing the responsibilities essentially on the individual, has produced new challenges for current law students.
