Too Poor to Learn: The Crisis in Higher Education
Written by Andrea Sotelo
Around this time of year, university applications dominate the discourse. However, I would argue that we should not be talking about the number of applicants, but a lack of support for students.
The recent report, "A Minimum Income Standard for Students," from HEPI, TechnologyOne, and Loughborough University provides a definitive look at the financial pressures facing students today. It calculates that to have a minimum socially acceptable standard of living, a student needs £61,000 over a three-year degree, a figure that rises to £77,000 in London. This is a powerful, sobering indictment of a system where the maximum maintenance loan in England covers barely half of a first-year student's essential costs.
This inadequacy is not a universal challenge; it is a profound matter of equity. For Black heritage students, who are disproportionately represented in low-income households, the financial gap is often impossible to bridge. They are less likely to have access to the parental contributions that the system implicitly expects, leaving them with a stark choice: compromise their education or compromise their wellbeing.
To meet the minimum standard of living, the report suggests students must work more than 20 hours a week. This is far beyond the average of 13 hours students currently work and demands an unsustainable sacrifice of time that should be spent on study, clubs, societies, and socialising. These are not optional extras; they are foundational to building a sense of belonging and community that is proven to improve mental health, academic performance, and, crucially, a student’s likelihood of completing their degree. When students are forced to spend their time earning a wage rather than engaging with their course and campus life, we should not be surprised to see lower student satisfaction and higher non-continuation rates.
The long-term consequences are just as bleak. The new "Plan 5" student loan system for those starting after 2023 links repayment to earning above a set threshold, currently £25,000 per year. While this protects low-earning graduates from immediate repayments, it also extends the repayment period to 40 years. For many students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are already struggling to earn, this creates a vicious cycle of lifelong debt and state dependency. They may never earn enough to fully pay off their loan, all while the interest rate compounds the balance.
As higher education leaders, we must reframe our conversations. We must move beyond the vanity metrics of applications and focus on the human cost of a system that is failing our most vulnerable students. This report is a powerful call to action for the entire sector to:
Advocate for Fairer Funding: Lobby for maintenance support that accurately reflects the cost of living and is not a postcode lottery.
Enhance Transparency: Ensure prospective students and their families are given a clear and realistic picture of the total costs of a degree, including the likely need for part-time work and parental contributions.
Prioritise Retention: Implement flexible support systems, from robust hardship funds to rent freezes, to ensure that financial stress does not become the reason a student drops out.
The future of higher education depends on our ability to create an environment where every student, regardless of their financial background, has a genuine opportunity to succeed. It is time to address the invisible crisis of retention before it no longer becomes a recruitment threat, but a systemic failure.
Bibliography:
HEPI, TechnologyOne, & the Centre for Research in Social Policy. (2025). A Minimum Income Standard for Students 2025.
GOV.UK. (2025). Student loans: a guide to terms and conditions 2025 to 2026.
Money Saving Expert. (2024). Martin Lewis' 6 need-to-knows about 'Plan 5' English student finance.
Student Minds. (2022). Factsheet: student mental health, cost-of-living increases, and financial hardship.