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Three-quarters of universities in England have had to bail out students with emergency funding because of delays to loans, suggests a BBC survey.

Universities say continuing problems with the loans system have forced them to spend their own cash on students.

“We are angry on behalf of our students who have been badly hit by this,” says University of Portsmouth Vice-Chancellor John Craven.

Figures suggest there could still be 70,000 students caught in delays.

The Conservatives say that ministers must “get a grip” on the problem – and the UCU lecturers’ union said the unresolved difficulties were “totally unacceptable” and “shambolic”.

Weeks after the start of term, the survey reveals the extent of the problems caused by difficulties with the delivery of loans and grants.

Food and rent

Among the 58 universities responding to the survey, 49 reported increased hardship payments to students compared with last year, and 43 attributed the increases to the loans system.

The survey found that on average universities had paid £44,000 to support hundreds of students needing money for items such as rent, food and course materials.

STUDENT LOAN DELAYS 4 out of 5 universities increased emergency payments 3 out of 4 blame student loan problems Based on responses from more than half of universities

Professor Craven has warned that this has been a particularly tough problem for students from poorer families experiencing higher education for the first time.

The University of Portsmouth says it has had to pay £80,000 to students waiting for their loans and grants to arrive.

One has been first-year social work student Victoria Kaiogo, who says she applied in February and has been given a loan of £200 while she waits for her money to arrive.

Fellow fresher and business student Casey Orrin applied in March and has been told he will get his money after Christmas. He has only been able to pay his rent thanks to a university loan.

The BBC News website has received thousands of e-mails complaining about delays over the loans and difficulties in getting information from the Student Loans Company.

Many have been from parents saying they have had to cover their children’s expenses because expected funding had not arrived.

The National Union of Students has called for the chief executive of the Student Loans Company to resign.

In the House of Lords, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said there was no excuse for the service the company had provided.

The Student Loans Company has apologised for the problems – which the government is investigating.

“We are working hard to ensure that this does not happen again next year and are working on a number of measures including offering clear advice and guidance including on application deadlines, simplifying the application process and increasing our call handling capacity,” said a statement from the company.

Figures released last week showed there were still tens of thousands of applications being processed – raising the prospect that the loans problems might not be resolved by the end of term.

The Conservatives’ university spokesman David Willetts said the government was failing to take responsibility.

“Ministers urgently need to get a grip on the crisis so that students are not forced to drop out and those that start university in January get their money on time.”

Source: www.BBC.co.uk

Comment:

This is an example of what you can expect of my weblog, just little news facts that effect people like me. Although this has not happened to me, I can really put myself in there position, because if I dont get my studyfinance I can`t pay the school either. If this happened to alot of students they will all drop out, because you can only miss 2 playments and if you miss the next one you will get kicked of your study. What would you do in a situation like this?