University to help bust myths on student fees

Finance experts at Coventry University will be on hand this Thursday to help prospective students get up to speed with the changes to higher education fees in England, as part of a national campaign led by money guru Martin Lewis.

The University, which ranked in the top 10 of UK higher education institutions for ‘best value’ in a survey published in the Telegraph newspaper last week, will be hosting a number of activities online as part of Student Finance Day on September 20th.

Student Finance Day aims to dispel myths and misunderstandings around new university fees, cutting through debate on the issue to show that the practical everyday impact on students’ pockets is not as severe as widely thought.

Some of the key messages promoted through the campaign are that:

• no-one has to pay fees upfront – the government provides loans to cover tuition fees and living costs, so you don’t need to save up all the money beforehand;

• you only repay when you earn enough – once you leave university, you only repay the loan if you earn more than £21,000 a year. If not, you don’t repay;

• repayments will be £470 a year less than before – graduates of the old system repay 9% of everything above £15,795; as this threshold has risen to £21,000 in the new system, more cash stays in graduates’ pockets.

On Thursday from 10am–12pm and from 2pm–4pm the University’s student finance advisors will be online on the popular Student Room forums for live Q&A sessions about tuition fees, and will also be available to answer questions on +44 (0)24 7615 2040.

A dedicated page – www.coventry.ac.uk/studentfinanceday2012 – has also been set up on the University’s website to offer guidance and advice on finance issues, and advisors will actively be communicating with potential students via the busy Facebook page and Twitter feed throughout this week.

The University will be holding its final two open days of the year on its city centre campus on October 27th and November 10th 2012, and the same student finance team will be available to offer one-to-one advice to prospective students and their parents to ensure they know everything there is to know about the tuition fee system and the financial help available.

Jane Whitehead, head of student funding at Coventry University, said:

“Students thinking of going on to higher education in 2013 will already be looking at their options, and it’s crucial that universities do as much as they can to explain the recent changes to tuition fees and what the practical implications of those are.

“We’ll be using our popular online social media platforms and our forthcoming open days to help prospective students understand what can, at first, come across as a complex and confusing fee system. Above all, we’re keen to echo the message promoted through Student Finance Day that if you want to go to university, you can – financial assistance is available and our team is here to help you take advantage of it.”

Martin Lewis, head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information, said:

“The myths and misunderstandings of wider society about the new system are still out there. So we need to continue to shout loudly ‘you can go to university’ for the 2013 student intake. Our aim is to repeat the huge success of Student Finance Day last year, in getting a more explanatory message out there. Schools, colleges, universities and money advisors all are working together to help make this happen.”

Student Finance Day is being coordinated by the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information, which is chaired by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com alongside the National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA) and the Higher Education Liaison Officers Association (HELOA).

To learn more about how Student Finance Day can help you understand the new tuition fee system better, visit www.coventry.ac.uk/studentfinanceday2012 or go to www.studentfinance2012.com.