No point worrying? Potential undergraduates, study-related debt, and the financial allure of higher education

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4097889
AutoresJames Esson (0000-0002-7076-5119, University of Oxford), Katherine V Gough (0000-0002-9638-9879), Hubert Ertl (University of Oxford, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen41
Número7
Páginas1265-1280
Fecha de publicación2016-07-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaStudies in Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03075079.2014.968542
OpenAlexW2145808462
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas17
Referencias citadas31

As of September 2012, the undergraduate tuition fee cap at English universities was raised from £3375 to £9000 per annum. This article explores the rationales underpinning prospective students' decision whether or not to apply to higher education following the fee increase, specifically, how this decision is influenced by perceptions of study-related debt and expected earnings. The article draws on data obtained from prospective undergraduates in year 13 and conceptualises their decision-making using the notion of ‘bounded rationality’. The data show that participant's primary response to the fee increase and associated study-related debt is that ‘there is no point worrying’. This is because in the short term, a higher education degree is considered vital to securing employment in a competitive labour market. In the long term, there is a perception that the income contingent nature of student loan repayments makes the Treasury, not the student, liable for any resultant financial losses

Bounded rationality · Business · Debt · Earnings · Economic growth · Economics · Higher education · Perception · Political science · Rationality · Student debt · Student loan · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Higher Education Research Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Psychology · Finance