More depressing news for mature students

Back in May I wrote about the cuts to student loan eligibility for older students.  It turns out that doesn't just hurt the students, it's actually hurting everyone.

A report has just come out on research from the University of Otago, showing that medical students who begin their degrees later in life not only make better doctors, but are more likely to remain in New Zealand after they graduate.  So mature students studying medicine hugely benefit the country.  But the student loan system disadvantages precisely those students.

When will this government ever realise that education (for everyone!) is a benefit to the country, not just a cost on a balance sheet somewhere?

Not a good budget for mature students

Unfortunately, it looks like my post of a couple of weeks ago was prescient - in the latest budget, the government have announced they are removing student loan eligibility for the over 65s and placing limits on those over 40. (source: Stuff.co.nz)  Yet they're investing money into attracting overseas students to come and study in New Zealand.

Yes, I know overseas students bring money into the country while they're here, but then they go back home, and the benefit of their education goes to their home country.  Meanwhile mature students miss out, despite being the very people who, thanks to family and other commitments, are most likely to stay here after they graduate and give New Zealand the benefit of their education.

Apologies for the rant!  And apologies for my recent hiatus - things have been a bit chaotic round here, but hopefully I'll be able to get back to regular posts again soon.

Dollars and Sense

This week on the Non-Traditional Student Blog, Elizabeth Sheppard wrote about the increasing number of mature students in the USA, and how universities there are doing more to support their mature students.

More and more schools are catering to nontraditional students, who are often older and going back to school after a break. I have seen Nontraditional Student clubs, special advising, and more choices in class times in the last five years or so, and I believe this trend will gain traction in the years to come.

Schools are offering more financial aid for older students too.

How different the situation here in New Zealand! The government has cut financial support for older students, and in doing so has sent a clear message to the publically-owned universities that they should be prioritising support for school leavers. At my own university, recent staff cuts have seen the loss of the dedicated adult student advisor who, among other things, ran a mentoring programme for mature students newly returned to study. While some individual departments still offer support for their mature students, you’d never know it from the university’s website – the only link I could find referring to adult student support just took me back to the generic student support page, squarely aimed at the 18-21 bracket.

A quick survey of the other universities shows a similar pattern. A few still offer dedicated support for mature students, but judging from their websites, the majority don’t even know we exist.

And really, who can blame them? In times of reduced budgets, it makes sense to cut support to a minority group (especially one that doesn’t have any special funding attached to it) in favour of providing more support to the majority. The government see more economic benefit in assisting school leavers who’ll have 40-odd years of working life ahead of them once they graduate, compared to a mature student who’s edging closer to retirement age.

But doesn’t that ignore the fact that it’s a rare person these days who hasn’t changed career and retrained multiple times over the course of their working life? Long gone are the days when you could assume your degree would stay relevant to your job forever. So shouldn’t the government be encouraging older people to go back to university and retrain to ensure their remaining years in work are as economically productive as possible?

Unfortunately that logic doesn’t seem to have occurred to the current government. But there’s a slight glimmer of hope from the Opposition. MP for Wigram Dr Megan Woods recently wrote:

Recent changes to the student loan scheme have meant post-graduates are no longer eligible for the student allowance while over 55s were stopped from accessing the student loan in 2011. The post-graduate cuts will likely result in many of our most talented students heading overseas to carry out research. If we lose them, we lose their skills and expertise at the very time we need more qualified people.

 Let’s hope she can convince some of her colleagues of the value of older students!