Credit Action student project launched (Jan 2008)

New initiative aims to calm nerves as money management is revealed as biggest student worry

A new initiative giving the next generation of students the information and skills they need to manage their finances while they are at university, thus equipping them to handle money better post-university, was launched today (January 28) by Higher Education Minister, Bill Rammell.

The programme, which is the brainchild of Credit Action, the money education charity, and made possible by the support of Cattles plc, comes in the wake of research showing that concerns about money are the single biggest worry among sixth formers applying for university this year, with half citing managing finances as a cause for concern.  The aim of the initiative is two-fold:

-     to ensure that students start university with a better understanding of how to manage their money.  To this end all of this year's applicants will receive a comprehensive Money Manual for Students in their UCAS welcome pack, to be distributed to half a million sixth formers in the course of the next few weeks.  It is planned to distribute the Money Manual, updated as necessary, to all would-be students until 2011. This means that over the next four years the programme will ensure that two million young people will be helped to manage their finances.

- to monitor the effectiveness of the Money Manual in helping students to manage their money as well as increasing understanding of student concerns about money and finance throughout the university experience, including differences in attitudes across sex, race and class and the impact of parents' financial support.

In order to achieve this an anonymous sample of over 3,000 student applicants has been recruited and signed up to take part in recurring surveys between now and 2011.  Initial findings among this year's sixth-formers show that:

- 50 percent listed managing finances as their top concern about going to university, while 39 percent included money being tight;

- loneliness and concerns about workload and exam pressures were the second biggest worry, each being listed by 41 percent of the sample;

- the reputation of the university was rated as the most important factor in choosing a university, with the reputation of the course and the location of the university only slightly less important;

- although two thirds (64%) plan to use student loans as their main source of funding, almost half (49%) expect their parents to help out. Very few (5%) have no idea of their sources of funding;

- over half (54 percent) currently have a part-time job;

- parents are regarded as the best source of information about money advice, should it be needed although the vast majority (86%) said they had never needed it;

- generally being in debt was accepted as ‘just part of student life'.

The plan is to go on surveying the sample over the next three academic years as they complete their degrees and prepare for life after university.

At the launch Bill Rammell said: "I want to ensure young people from all backgrounds can go to university, confident of the financial help they'll receive and armed with the knowledge to manage their finances responsibly.

"Nobody should be deterred from entering higher education or realising their potential because of a fear of financial difficulty. The Government is introducing a package of additional financial help to achieve this ambition including greater access to non-repayable maintenance grants. 

"For many prospective students, entering university means managing their money for the first time.  The practical and comprehensive advice contained in the Money Manual will help them to focus on getting the most out of their studies, safe in the knowledge that their finances are sorted."

Chris Tapp, national director of Credit Action, added: "It is vital that we help young people handle their money well as they leave for university and become financially independent - this Money Manual is a great way to reach a large number of prospective students and help them get clued up, and stay quids in.

"As far as I know, this is also the first time that there has been any attempt at getting to grips with the reality of the student experience of money from the point of application to graduation. I will be fascinated to see the outcome of the research and am grateful for the support from Cattles which has made this possible."

Credit Action chairman, Malcolm Hurlston said:  "This is an important step towards evidence-based education. Cattles' farsightedness will help improve standards nationwide."