Student Loan Scheme Research Articles

Factors Affecting Academic Performance of BS Students in Mansehra City (Pakistan)

This study investigates the factors affecting the academic performance of BS students in Mansehra city. To make a relationship between social factors, parental factors, family background, basic facilities, economic factors, human resources, peer factors, demographic factors, gender and culture, institutional background, and student’s academic performance, the study used correlation analysis. Firstly, the reliability of the research instrument was established, and a proportionate random sampling technique was used to select the sample. Data was collected through closed ended questionnaires, and a sample size of 200 was drawn from three colleges in Mansehra city. The frequency analysis revealed that the sample comprises 75 percent female and 25 percent male students, and they belong to the 17-24 years age group. 95% of students show a parental educational background, which encourages children’s education. 92% of students' family income is essential to continuing their studies, and 98% of respondents think that human resources affect the student’s performance. The result from the regression model shows a significant relationship between social factors, parental factors, family background, basic facilities, economic factors, human resources, and the students' performance. In contrast, other factors like peer factors, demographic factors, gender and culture, and institutional background have an insignificant effect on the model. Any institution paying attention to students from low socioeconomic backgrounds could develop a support system for students by identifying financial aid and student loan schemes.

The politics of student loan in Turkey: regimenting the youth through authoritarian debtfarism

ABSTRACT The mass-scale expansion of student loan schemes in Turkey over the last two decades has been accomplished by a governance technique which the article defines as authoritarian debtfarism. By restructuring the Credit and Dormitories Institution (KYK) as subordinated to the executive and insulated from democratic intervention, the authoritarian neoliberal state in Turkey has sought to fulfil its new economic function, i.e. enabling the societal reproduction of the youth by increasing their financial dependency on credit money. The state-led student loan expansion in Turkey emerged in a tuition-free higher education setting without a sophisticated financial infrastructure and in an economic environment marked with perpetual graduate unemployment as well as inflationary pressures on repayment amounts. Based on a detailed interrogation of the official documents and in-depth interviews with defaulters, this article argues that authoritarian debtfarism has imposed a rigid market discipline over the university youth by using non-transparency and arbitrariness as its governance mechanisms. Consequently, future labour of the graduates is put on hold through a long-term debt relation, compelling them to integrate into labour market precariously as a new segment of the relative surplus population.

Higher Education Student Loans and Enrolment in India, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

The study uses generalised least squares (GLS), descriptive, phenomenological and mixed methods to examine the effects of higher education (HE) loans on tertiary education enrolment in India, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The data sets employed in the empirical analyses were obtained from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), India Educational Statistics, the Ghana Ministry of Education, the Kenya Higher Education Loan Board, the Student Loan Financing Board of Tanzania and the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports. The paper examines the HE student loan schemes introduced and implemented in Ghana, India, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda through commercial banks, public banks or governments along with their respective effects on higher education enrolment. Empirical results show that boosting higher education is a student loan phenomenon. Meanwhile, in the last two decades, student loan schemes performed better in India, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania than in Uganda. To become as successful as India in implementing the HE student loan scheme and improve HE enrolment, the paper suggests that the Government of Uganda must formulate a more comprehensive education loan scheme in consultation with the Bank of Uganda and other banks in Uganda.

Financing higher education in Tanzania through students' loans scheme and its impact on equitable access

For the past three decades, African higher education (HE) has experienced several challenges spanning from financial austerity, affordability, accessibility, and academics brain drain, to dilapidated educational infrastructures. These challenges have not only limited access to HE on the continent but also has created social inequality in accessing HE. Although Tanzania has witnessed notable development in terms of HE access due to recent massification policies, inequality in accessing its HE as a result of financing it through student loans scheme still a challenge. Using Tanzania as a case, this paper examines how the financing of HE through the Students' Loans Scheme has been narrowing or widening the social inequality among students. The study on which the paper is based subjected secondary and primary data to discourse analysis to provide evidence on how HE financing through students’ loans scheme has increased access to HE and how inadequate financing of HE through the same creates social inequality in Tanzania, hence undermining the global efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings show that the current financing modalities of HE in the country have, to some extent, widened access, on one hand, but have created social inequality among those with the ability to pay and those financed by the state against those without the ability to pay and not financed by the state on the other hand due to lopsided financing modalities. We recommend to the government to re-examine its HE financing mechanisms to have robust funding for all needy applicants regardless of their degree programmes and social-economic status (SES).

SYNTACTIC DISLOCATION PHENOMENA IN THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSES OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES – A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Currently numerous studies have concerned themselves with reducing school dropout rates premised on school environment. This has resulted into limited impact of interventions fronted to reduce the high school dropout rates. If schools are to register high retention rates commensurate to the high enrollment levels, there is need for studies and interventions to look beyond school related factors which don’t influence school attendance in isolation but operate alongside other factors such as the individual characteristics of the children and their parents especially the household head, household structure and composition as well as the community factors. Therefore, this study aimed at determining non-school factors associated with school dropouts in Uganda. Assessment was done using the probit regression model and secondary data from Uwezo Uganda National Learning Assessment 2014 survey. Children aged 6-16 were assessed based on their household setting and supplementary data obtained through related surveys of their households, local communities and selected local schools where majority of the children in the community were enrolled. The likelihood of a child dropping out of school increased with the child’s age and reduced with; increase in years of preschool attendance and household heads education level. Furthermore, school dropouts were more likely among the disabled children and children with no biological parents in the household. The study recommended focusing on pupil retention, parent sensitization regarding the merits of formal education and the need to promote mandatory pre-school education where children’s’ reading, writing and numeracy can be nurtured at an early age. There is need to explore further the effect of other non-school factors that could influence school dropout directly or indirectly or interactively with school related factors including peer social capital, student loan scheme programmes, government education policies to curb school absenteeism and commitment to their implementation, migration among others.

Postgraduate Income Contingent Loan Scheme : A Comparative Study of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia

[연구목적] 이 연구는 미국, 영국, 호주의 대학원생 소득연계 학자금 대출 제도를 분석하여 우리나라 대학원생 취업 후 상환 학자금 대출 제도 도입에 필요한 시사점을 모색하는데 목적이 있다. [연구방법] 이를 위해 각 국가의 학자금 대출 관련 웹사이트에 탑재된 내용 및 안내책자 등을 분석하였고, 관련 연구보고서, 학술논문, 법령자료 등 각종 문헌자료를 참고하였다. 또한 선행연구 분석을 통해 소득연계 학자금 대출 제도의 도입 및 운영상의 쟁점으로 법적 근거, 관리 기관, 대출 유형, 지원 기준, 상환 방식을 선정하였으며, 이를 분석 준거로 활용하였다. [연구결과] 주요 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 미국, 영국, 호주는 모두 법적 근거에 기반하여 대학원생 소득연계 학자금 대출 제도를 운영하고 있다. 둘째, 미국과 영국은 학자금 대출과 상환을 담당하는 기관이 존재하지만 호주는 교육부, 대학, 국세청이 지원 및 상환업무를 분담한다. 셋째, 지원기준 중 소득기준은 모든 국가에서 적용하지 않으며, 성적기준은 호주에서만, 연령기준은 영국에서만 적용하는 것으로 나타났다. 넷째, 미국과 영국은 대출 프로그램별 대출한도가 정해져 있는 반면, 호주는 통합 HELP로 대출한도가 통합, 관리된다. 다섯째, 미국과 영국은 이자율을 적용하는 반면, 호주는 이자율을 적용하지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 여섯째, 미국, 영국, 호주는 모두 상환기준소득을 설정하고 있다. 일곱째, 미국과 영국은 소득에 관계없이 동일한 상환율을 적용하는 반면, 호주는 소득에 따라 상환율을 차등 적용하는 것으로 나타났다. 여덟째, 미국과 영국은 상환소요기간에 대한 기준이 있으나 호주는 상환소요기간에 대한 기준이 없는 것으로 나타났다. [결론] 분석결과를 바탕으로 우리나라 대학원생 취업 후 상환 학자금 대출 제도의 도입 및 설계 방향에 대한 시사점을 도출하였다.[Purpose] The purposes of this study are to analyze the postgraduate income contingent loan scheme in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and to draw implications for the introduction of the scheme in Korea. [Methods] To achieve the purposes of this study, the contents and brochures on each country’s student loan websites were examined, and various literature materials such as research reports, articles, legal materials were used. Drawing on prior literature, issues such as a legal basis, management institutions, loan program, eligibility criteria, and repayment criteria were selected as basis of analysis in the introduction and operation of the postgraduate income contingent loan scheme. [Results] The major findings are as follows. First, all countries operate postgraduate income contingent loan scheme based on the legal basis. Second, the United States and the United Kingdom have institutions for student loan scheme, but in Australia the work of student loan shares with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, universities, and Australian Taxation Office. Third, all countries do not apply income criteria; grade restriction is only applied in Australia, and age restriction is only applied in the United Kingdom. Fourth, while the loan limit in the United States and the United Kingdom is calculated by each loan program, Australia counts all loans debts as a Combined HELP loan limit. Fifth, the United States and the United Kingdom apply interest rates, while Australia does not. Sixth, all countries set repayment threshold. Seventh, the United States and the United Kingdom apply the same repayment rate regardless of income, while Australia applies different repayment rates depending on income status. Eighth, the United States and the United Kingdom provide repayment periods, whereas Australia has not. [Conclusion] Based on the findings, we suggest implications for the introduction and design of the postgraduate income contingent loan scheme in Korea.

Student Loans Financing in Tanza:

This study examined the mechanisms employed to finance student loans in Tanzania and who benefits and how. The findings show that student loans are financed by the public exchequer. The number of students fromhigh-income families accessing these loans is disproportionate to their representation in Higher Education Institutions, while the share for middle and low-income students reflects their representation. There is also animbalance between male and female beneficiaries across programmes, notably in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. It is concluded that such disparities are the result of the fact thatthe student loan scheme seeks to satisfy a number of government policy objectives in relation to higher education beyond access and equity, and that means testing is not rigorously conducted.
 Key words: Higher Education, higher education policy, financing higher education, higher education student loans, public subsidisation of higher education

Who can earn risk-free profit? : Possibility of Arbitrage in the Hungarian Student Loan System

People without tertiary educational attainment are more affected by poverty. Thus, obtaining a higher degree of education can act as a key to pulling sections of society out of the poverty trap. In higher education, Hungary has a dual-track tuition policy, which offers restricted merit-based entry to state-funded universities, leading to entirely free higher education for a limited number of students. As the most disadvantaged students perform worse at secondary school, their chances of being enrolled in free tertiary education are much lower. To improve equity, students have access to a well-designed student loan system in Hungary. This study demonstrates that Hungary’s higher education funding policy is currently further widening the gap between the rich and the poor, as holding a Student Loan 1 and a Hungarian Government Security Plus (MÁP Plusz) position results in arbitrage for those who do not need to borrow to finance their tuition fee and living expenses during the academic years. Instead of supporting the catchingup process for students coming from low-income backgrounds, the Hungarian system provides additional financial aid to advantaged students. Based on an international comparison of student loan schemes, adopting a targeted approach instead of a universal one might be worthy of consideration, e.g. providing an interest rate subsidy to disadvantaged students or setting a lower income level of the student’s household as an eligibility criterion for borrowing.

Higher Education Loans Board in Kenya from the Islamic Sharia Perspective

Education loans were introduced in 1952 in Kenya under higher education loan fund board (HELF). The number of applicants increased consequently causing problems in provision of loans by the government; in this regard, the government introduced Students Loans Scheme (USLS), which was governed by the Ministry of Education. USLS noted problems in recovering matured loans from the beneficiary. To deal with this problem, in July 1995 the Government of Kenya through Parliament established the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to control the Student Loans Scheme. However, due to financial constraints, education loans do not cater for students studying abroad and those on self-sponsored programs. The scheme contains the element of interest which makes the product non sharia compliant, this is the research problem. Therefore, there is a need to seek an Islamic alternative model based on Islamic sharia. The research methodology to be applied in this study is the inductive and descriptive analysis methods. The Islamic alternative model are expected to help Muslims students to finance their higher education without destroying their faith, likewise HELB will continue funding education loan without hardship thus promoting financial system development and investment in human capital.

Book Review: “Unprofitable Schooling: Examining Causes of, and Fixes for, America’s Broken Ivory Tower”

Why do we keep funding universities--indeed at a skyrocketing rate? What do we expect to get from our tuition, tax subsidies, and mammoth student loan schemes? These questions and more are taken up with all due scholarly regard in _Unprofitable Schooling,_ a very useful volume edited by Todd J. Zywicki and Neal P. McCluskey and commissioned by the libertarianish Cato Institute in Washington, DC. The editors of _Unprofitable Schooling_ have sagely assembled fourteen authorities with backgrounds in education history, education policy, economics, and law. Divided into three parts and eleven chapters plus an introduction, _Unprofitable Schooling_ is the go-to book for anyone who wants to understand, in depth, the debates raging about why, and even whether (there are dissenters from the skeptics in the book, which ironically makes it very unlike academia itself), the academy is in such a sorry state.

Adaptation of the ADKAR Model to the Management of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme in Uganda

The financing of higher education through student loan schemes is a recent phenomenon in Uganda. It constitutes a major change in the financing of higher education in the country and, naturally, it has not been without controversy. Its processes have posed challenges to both its beneficiaries and implementers. For instance, the loan policy’s sustainability is yet to be guaranteed. It is with this understanding that this paper discusses how application of the ADKAR change management model can promote the performance and sustainability of the policy. Designed to help individuals and organisations, the model prescribes a five-step process towards adopting change and leveraging its power to bring about improvement by enhancing ability to confront new situations. In this paper, this process is proposed for ensuring effective disbursement of student loans, determination of interest rates and recovery of the loans from borrowers.

Editorial

I am delighted to welcome you to the eleventh volume of the Makerere Journal of Higher Education (MAJOHE). The two issues in the volume are being published at the same time, belatedly! However, it is a better volume, thanks to the insights (and energy) of the new additions to our management board and to the support of Mrs. Sioux Cumming (Programme Specialist at the International Network for Advancing Science and Policy [INASP]). Sioux’s support was given under the auspices of a training workshop on Improving Journal Publishing Practices and Standards hosted by the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST) in August 2019. At the workshop, I decided that, on returning home, we would upgrade some features of MAJOHE to reach the gold standard. As it turned out, however, it would take us some time and significant work to get there, which is why I am very proud to announce that we are now there. Moreover, the volume is also quite diverse—with writing drawn from Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda and touching on teacher education, technology in higher education, university governance, student loan schemes, pedagogy, TVET, student services and marketization. I hope you find the volume a useful resource. As usual, the Board and I thank the authors for submitting their work and for working hard to revise it as advised; the reviewers for giving the authors constructive feedback; and African Journals Online (AJOL) for hosting the journal online.

Intergenerational transmission of human capital

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find the rate of intergenerational transmission of human capital and comparative schooling attainment between lower and higher income families using the labor force survey in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach Instrumental variable (IV) approach has been used in this paper. The author proposed an alternative instrument for parental education to identify the rate of transmission, which is the parents’ cohorts’ mean schooling in their respective provinces. Findings This paper found that the rate of transmission of human capital from father is higher than that from mother in Thailand. For both, the rate of transmission in Thailand is higher than that in the developed countries. In addition, it is found that children from lower income families are getting lesser education than those from higher income families in Thailand. Research limitations/implications This paper is used as an alternative instrument that could solve the endogeneity problem in the literature of intergenerational transmission of human capital. Practical implications The results of rate of transmission can help to make educational policies in countries like Thailand. It also could help the policymakers to evaluate and redesign the student loan scheme (SLS) in Thailand. Originality/value This study is used as an alternative instrument for parental education to identify the rate of transmission in an IV approach. This paper is the first to identify the intergenerational transmission rate in Thailand. In addition, it evaluates Thai SLS in an intergenerational framework.

Internship courses for all? Supporting students undertaking unpaid university-run legal internships

This article reflects on internship courses offered by Australian law schools. It focuses on the barriers faced by students in gaining and undertaking legal internships. In regard to overcoming the financial barriers, it recommends a government student-loan scheme to support students undertaking internships within Australia.

Modelling alternative student loan schemes for Brazil

This paper simulates student loan schemes for Brazil. A copula approach is applied to simulate dynamic earnings paths for graduates. Repayment patterns are then simulated for time-based and income-contingent loan designs. The results show that the Brazilian time-based scheme involved unsustainable repayment burdens for many graduates and contributed to the scheme's high default rates. We also show that the new income-contingent scheme is also likely to involve high taxpayer subsidies. We consider alternative designs with different strengths and weaknesses but favour an income-contingent scheme with a loan fee, repayment rates at 50% of current income tax rates and an interest rate at the government's cost of borrowing upon graduation and above initial tax threshold. We conclude by emphasising that full involvement of the federal revenue system is more desirable than the present approach of employer withholding. This would increase the earnings base and reduce costs, which is important for Brazil's current precarious fiscal situation.

A Study on Student Loan Schemes in India and Australia

<p>Higher education or tertiary education has been perceived as an important sector which contributes to the economic progress among the countries of the world. Higher education has grown rapidly, at the same time the cost of higher education is also rising throughout the world. Education loan or student loan schemes, as one of the sources of financing higher education, have been introduced in most of the countries. This paper attempts to understand and compare the student loan schemes introduced and implemented in India and Australia either through the commercial banks or through the government. The study concludes that the student loan procedures followed in other countries can also be considered with suitable modifications for the improvement of our education loan scheme at present.</p>

Modelling higher education financing reform for Ireland

This paper examines the feasibility of various alternative student loan schemes for Ireland. Using data from a large employer survey, we model the life-cycle earnings distribution for Irish graduates. We then use these estimates to simulate the effects of alternative types of student loans, including mortgage-type loans and income-contingent loans of various designs, incorporating participation and migration patterns into the simulations. The results show that mortgage-type loans entail unsustainably high repayment rates for low income graduates. Through the specification of several alternative income-contingent loan schemes, it is demonstrated that this approach to higher education financing is feasible both in terms of affordability for graduates and with respect to implied government subsidies. There are some important policy design issues to be addressed and we conclude with some recommendations for a future Irish scheme.

NON-SCHOOL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SCHOOL DROPOUTS IN UGANDA

Currently numerous studies have concerned themselves with reducing school dropout rates premised on school environment. This has resulted into limited impact of interventions fronted to reduce the high school dropout rates. If schools are to register high retention rates commensurate to the high enrollment levels, there is need for studies and interventions to look beyond school related factors which don’t influence school attendance in isolation but operate alongside other factors such as the individual characteristics of the children and their parents especially the household head, household structure and composition as well as the community factors. Therefore, this study aimed at determining non-school factors associated with school dropouts in Uganda. Assessment was done using the probit regression model and secondary data from Uwezo Uganda National Learning Assessment 2014 survey. Children aged 6-16 were assessed based on their household setting and supplementary data obtained through related surveys of their households, local communities and selected local schools where majority of the children in the community were enrolled. The likelihood of a child dropping out of school increased with the child’s age and reduced with; increase in years of preschool attendance and household heads education level. Furthermore, school dropouts were more likely among the disabled children and children with no biological parents in the household. The study recommended focusing on pupil retention, parent sensitization regarding the merits of formal education and the need to promote mandatory pre-school education where children’s’ reading, writing and numeracy can be nurtured at an early age. There is need to explore further the effect of other non-school factors that could influence school dropout directly or indirectly or interactively with school related factors including peer social capital, student loan scheme programmes, government education policies to curb school absenteeism and commitment to their implementation, migration among others.

Gaps in the implementation of Uganda’s students’ loan scheme

This study was conducted to examine the performance of the student loan scheme in Uganda. Making reference to related literature, views of selected stakeholders, and the performance of government’s earlier lending programmes, the study identifies gaps in the performance of the scheme. These are in the areas of application procedures; disbursement; and structures for recovery. To enhance the reach of the loan scheme, it is recommended that government decentralises some of its operations to district level. It is recommended that the loan application forms be stationed at Advanced Level Secondary Schools to ease access. It is also recommended that the Higher Education Students Financing Board (HESFB) sensitises the general public about the law .governing the university education loan scheme.Keywords: Student loan schemes; Funding; Higher education reform

Global trends in higher education financing: The United Kingdom

Over the last 40 years, UK higher education has moved from a publicly funded system to a mixed publicly/privately funded system regulated as a tuition loans-based consumer market, in which both the student as graduate, and the higher education institution, are responsible for a significant proportion of total costs. It is nevertheless subject to robust government control. This is partly exercised indirectly through comparative assessments of institutional performance by public agencies that define common objectives and install a hierarchy based on measured performance, helping to differentiate HEIs within the market. Institutions remain partly dependent on government funding in the forms of research-related support, teaching subsidies and subsidization of the loan system through non-repayment of debt. The 2012 introduction of a £9000 maximum fee for full-time students and £6750 for part-time students in England, based on income-contingent repayment arrangements, was associated with a net increase in funding, growth in full-time first degree students, and a sharp fall in part-time and mature age students. Part-time students begin repayments four years after the commencement of their course of study. The long-term cost of the student loans scheme is uncertain and its sustainability is in question. After 15 years of declining funding for students, total systemic funding rose by 50% between 2000 and 2015 and per student funding also rose, mainly benefiting the research-intensive universities in the Russell group. These universities benefit most from funds allocated through the government’s periodic national research assessments.