500 signatures reached
To: Philip Hammond
Reinstate Student Maintenance Grants for those earning less than £25k
Reverse the decision taken in 2015 by George Osborne to replace Student Maintenance Grants with loans for those earning less than £25,000.
We the undersigned call upon Philip Hammond to reinstate student maintenance grants instead of forcing students into further debt by taking out maintenance loans.
Low-income families simply cannot afford the extra £3,387 per year they would previously have received as a maintenance grant, in order to support a young person throughout the period of their degree. In most cases, students are already accruing mounting debt just to pay for their tuition fees. It's shortsighted to pile yet more repayments onto them; how will our economy thrive if we have generations who are crippled by education related debt?
This policy means we will actively prevent students from poorer backgrounds from seeking a university education, and thereby prevent our society from reeping the benefits of their knowledge and innovation once qualified.
We can't afford NOT to invest in future generations and this is a small price to pay for the rewards it will bring for society.
Thank you for your time.
We the undersigned call upon Philip Hammond to reinstate student maintenance grants instead of forcing students into further debt by taking out maintenance loans.
Low-income families simply cannot afford the extra £3,387 per year they would previously have received as a maintenance grant, in order to support a young person throughout the period of their degree. In most cases, students are already accruing mounting debt just to pay for their tuition fees. It's shortsighted to pile yet more repayments onto them; how will our economy thrive if we have generations who are crippled by education related debt?
This policy means we will actively prevent students from poorer backgrounds from seeking a university education, and thereby prevent our society from reeping the benefits of their knowledge and innovation once qualified.
We can't afford NOT to invest in future generations and this is a small price to pay for the rewards it will bring for society.
Thank you for your time.
Why is this important?
From Monday 1 August this year, students starting university courses in England will no longer be able to apply for grants towards living costs. Grants for students from low-income homes will now be replaced by loans.
Previously, students from families with annual incomes of £25,000 or less received a full grant of £3,387 a year.
The National Union of Students have said the move was "disgraceful" and meant poorer students would be saddled with a lifetime of debt.
The switch from grants to maintenance loans was announced in July 2015 by the then Chancellor, George Osborne, in his Budget.
Mr Osborne said at the time that there was a "basic unfairness in asking taxpayers to fund grants for people who are likely to earn a lot more than them". But is it fair that the very MPs who belong to a generation whose further education was largely funded by the tax payer are now denying the same opportunities to learn to the poorest in our society?
Isn't it true that we as a society benefit when those people whose studies we've helped to fund go on to bring us innovations as scientists, better health care as doctors, consultants and surgeons, or improvements to industry and infrastructure as engineers for example?
To say that we can't afford this investment is ridiculous. If we can afford to invest in a weapon system we've said we'll never realistically use then surely we can afford to invest in our future generations?
So please sign to urge the government to think again and return maintenance grants to those who simply can't afford to study without them.
Previously, students from families with annual incomes of £25,000 or less received a full grant of £3,387 a year.
The National Union of Students have said the move was "disgraceful" and meant poorer students would be saddled with a lifetime of debt.
The switch from grants to maintenance loans was announced in July 2015 by the then Chancellor, George Osborne, in his Budget.
Mr Osborne said at the time that there was a "basic unfairness in asking taxpayers to fund grants for people who are likely to earn a lot more than them". But is it fair that the very MPs who belong to a generation whose further education was largely funded by the tax payer are now denying the same opportunities to learn to the poorest in our society?
Isn't it true that we as a society benefit when those people whose studies we've helped to fund go on to bring us innovations as scientists, better health care as doctors, consultants and surgeons, or improvements to industry and infrastructure as engineers for example?
To say that we can't afford this investment is ridiculous. If we can afford to invest in a weapon system we've said we'll never realistically use then surely we can afford to invest in our future generations?
So please sign to urge the government to think again and return maintenance grants to those who simply can't afford to study without them.
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