Magazine Education PoorStudents

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HC T VNG QUA BO CH NC NGOI POOR STUDENTS HIGHER EDUCATION

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20121011111248502

Vietnam has announced that it will spend 2,500 billion dong (US$125 million) on subsidised student

loans during the 2012-13 academic year, which has just begun. But this is less than a third of what

the loan scheme used to provide and there are deep concerns about access.

As the country moves from an elite to a mass higher education system, the government is grappling

with the problem of providing sufficient student funding to ensure equal access.

The student loan budget has failed to keep up with growth in the numbers and needs of poorer

students.

One recent high-profile case involved Le Duc Duan (18) from Phu Xuyen, a poor district some 50

kilometres from central Hanoi. A student at Hanoi University of Pharmacy, he was top of his class

after obtaining a score of 29 out of 30 in the nationwide examination this July.

But Duans widowed mother could not afford the high tuition fees and living expenses in Hanoi

during the five-year undergraduate programme.

Fortunately, after the local media Dan tri reported Duans story in late August, he received

exceptional approval to change to the Military Medical Academy, where the tuition fee would be

waived. Meanwhile, a kindhearted businessman offered to sponsor Duans accommodation and

living expenses in Hanoi.

Duan was lucky because of the publicity given to his case. But in the past month, local media

reported dozens of stories about students unsure whether to pursue a degree in an uncertain

economic climate.

Hundreds of thousands of students are said to be delaying attending university or are even dropping

out.

The Ministry of Finance is spending 2,500 billion dong (US$125 million) on student loans for the

coming academic year, as announced on its web portal on 25 September. This is a significant drop

from the first five years of the loan programme, which was allocated some 40,000 billion dong

(US$2 billion) 8,000 billion dong a year.



Some 2.4 million students at public and private institution benefited in the five years to June this

year from the governments first regulation in 2007 providing low-interest (0.5%) loans. But critics

say the loans have had low take-up and only a limited impact on access.

The amount allocated for student loans seems huge, said Huong Nguyen, a Hanoi-based expert on

public finance reform. However, on average each student receives only US$830 over an entire four-

year undergraduate course, or US$21 a month.

The loan provides only a fifth to a quarter of what students need to live in more expensive cities like

Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang, he said.

Hundreds of thousands of students do not benefit from the loan system, in many cases because they

are unaccustomed to taking out loans, or are unaware of the government scheme.

Also, the government loan scheme is not the only option. In parallel, and with government

encouragement, more than 20 banks are also involved in student loans.

Under one partnership, between Vietnam National University Hanoi and the United Overseas Bank

(UOB) Singapore, UOB provides zero-interest loans worth a total of US$300,000 to cover the

tuition fees of poor and other qualifying students based on academic merit.

In a meeting with UOB-Singapore representatives in April, the universitys vice-president of student

affairs Nguyen Kim Son said that at least 30% of its students required some kind of financial

support.

But the UOB loans go only some way towards resolving the problem of student finance, and other

solutions are being looked into.

Although precise data are not available, many experts agree that the proportion of students needing

financial support is about 30% to 40% of the total student body, and this proportion is likely to

increase as more students from poorer households and rural areas enter higher education, and as

families become more squeezed by the economic situation.



Lam Quang Thiep, a former director of higher education in the Ministry of Education and Training

and an emeritus professor at Vietnam National University Hanoi, said: The loan amount should

be higher and at the same time, tuition fees may also be set higher.

This would kill two birds with one stone - lm hai vic cng mt lc, he said, by tackling both

access and quality problems in higher education caused by, among other things, low academic

salaries and budgetary constraints on institutions.

The expansion of higher education has led to major concerns about quality.

The policy of two highs higher tuition fees and higher student aid had been pursued by more

than 50 countries in recent decades with fruitful results, said Pham Phu, a member of the Scientific

and Training Council at Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.

But financial expert Huong Nguyen said things worked differently in practice. Because of the

financial crisis in Vietnam, the government had problems sustaining the loans budget, he said.

Waiving tuition fees and providing scholarships for all is never a feasible mechanism if you want to

build a universal higher education system, Huong said.

In April Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan promised students in Ho Chi Minh City that the

government would make student loans more attractive.

A government meeting scheduled for next month is expected to take stock of the student loan

programme and adjust the system for the next phase of the scheme, which is expected to last another

five years.

http://vietnamnews.vn/social-issues/229917/government-to-fund-poor-students-loans.html

The Government has agreed to earmark an additional VND2.5 trillion (US$119 million) to the Viet

Nam Bank for Social Policies to ensure there are enough funds for loans to poor university students

in the upcoming academic year.

Nguyen Van Ly, the bank's deputy head, said the bank was distributing money to provinces and

cities for lending to poor students. But there could be a shortage of funds, he admitted.

The money for the programme comes from three sources the Government, issue of bonds

guaranteed by the Government, and internal sources.

By July it had collected debts worth VND1.8 trillion ($85.7 million) from beneficiaries, according to

Ly.

But because of the economic downturn, it has not tried to sell bonds in recent times.



To ensure a stable source of funds for the programme, the bank wants the Government to allot a

portion of the official development assistance the country gets, which are long-term loans at low

interest rates.

A student is entitled to a loan of VND1 million per month at 0.65 per cent interest. VNS

http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2014/04/10/vietnam-helping-8000-poor-students-pursue-their-

academic-dreams

Vietnam: Helping 8,000 Poor Students Pursue Their Academic Dreams

Providing access to upper secondary education at non-public schools for 8,000 poor students

A World-Bank supported project helped 8,000 poor students stay in private high school or

vocational schools in Vietnam.

From 2010 to 2013, the GPOBA: Vietnam Education Project provided tuition subsidies to more than

8,000 poor students to attend non-public upper secondary schools and professional secondary

schools. Using an output-based aid approach, the project linked the payment of a tuition subsidy

with student performance. This helped increase access to upper secondary school education and

reduce dropout rates among disadvantaged students in 12 provinces in Vietnam.

Challenge

Despite significant improvements in enrollment rates in recent years, the quality and effectiveness of

education in Vietnams poorer regions remains low, while drop-out and repetition rates remain high.

The primary reason for student dropout is that families cannot afford the tuition.

Every year, about one million students graduate from secondary schools but the public school

system can only accommodate about 70 to 80 percent of them. Those who cannot pass one single

high school entry exam have to go to private schools, which are generally more expensive and

beyond the affordability of many poor students. Many of them have no other choice than opting out

of high school.

Solution

The project provided financial support to disadvantaged students to follow their academic aspirations



despite economic hardships. Using an output-based approach, also known as performance-based

aid, the project linked the payment of a tuition subsidy with student performance. Participating

schools pre-financed the tuition fee for each beneficiary student. If the student met a minimum

grade, attendance and behavior requirements at the end of the term, the school would receive the

tuition subsidy. These performance criteria were verified by the World Banks independent

verification team who traveled frequently to all participating schools, reviewed students record and

profiles, and visited students families.

By creating an incentive for schools to actively seek to improve a students performance, this

approach improved the quality of education for the student as well as encouraged their schools to

help students achieve the learning outcomes.

The project was awarded the INOBATION (GPOBA Innovation) prize for this innovative approach

in supporting the poor children in Vietnam.

Results

From 2010 to 2013, the project helped provide access to upper secondary education for poor students

in 12 provinces in Vietnam with several key outcomes:

- More than 8,000 poor students received grants to enroll in 67 non-public high schools and

professional schools.

- The dropout rate of project beneficiaries is about 5 percent, significantly under the national rate

of 10 percent. Project beneficiary students average grade point average (GPA) increased annually

from 5.95 out of 10.00 in the school year 2010-2011 to 6.33 in 2012-2013.

- Almost 90 percent of beneficiaries in 51 participating schools went on to college or continued

their education.

The project not only helped me financially, but also encouraged me a lot. I felt that I was cared for.

Finishing 10th grade, my GPA was good, but by the 11th and 12th grades, I was getting excellent.

Bank Group Contribution

The World Bank contributed to this project through the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid

(GPOBA) program, a multi-donor financing program. This $3 million project is the first education



project funded by GPOBA.

Partners

The project was designed and implemented under close collaboration between donors, international

and local agencies.

The East Meets West Foundation, a non-governmental organization headquartered in the U.S., was

responsible for project preparation and implementation. The GPOBA Education Program partners

with community organizations such as the local Study Promotion Association, which provide student

referrals, help monitor student progress and promote family involvement.

Moving Forward

The project offers an interesting model and innovative approach for future efforts aimed at

increasing upper secondary education enrollment and completion in Vietnam. The Ministry of

Education and Training can replicate this model and expand the project to all provinces in Vietnam.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/taking-action-reduce-burden-student-loan-debt

The time is approaching when Vietnamese higher education students will be required to contribute

more to the direct costs of the process. As well, continued expansion of the system will become

increasingly difficult without the institution of an effective student loans policy designed to assist

with both tuition and living costs. Of major policy interest in this future scenario, and the topic of

this paper, are the potential financial difficulties that borrowers are likely to face with 'repayment

burdens' (RB), the proportion of incomes needed to repay their loans. We show how significant this

issue is likely to be by constructing a hypothetical student loans system and calculating RBs for male

and female graduates residing in four different parts of Vietnam. We find that there are likely to be

significant problems, potentially leading to high default rates, for many graduates if the financing of

higher education expansion uses typical

There is much more still to do to get poor students into higher education

Believe the hype and Britain is on the verge of a great levelling. Of course it is good news to learn

that 1,400 more students from disadvantaged homes will be going to university this year than last.

But it is hardly the end of the class divide, as some reports have claimed; 1,400 represents a drop in



the ocean compared to the hundreds of thousands from more advantaged homes. The gulf in

expectation and life chances between rich and poor remains enormous.

In fact, given the expensive and comprehensive efforts that go into promoting access, anything less

than that figure would have been disappointing, even disastrous. Any university that wants to charge

more than the basic fee of 6,000 for full-time study or 4,500 for part-time study (which is every

one of Britain's universities) has to sign an access agreement with the Office for Fair Access

(OFFA). The university sets out as a quid pro quo detailed plans about the promotion of access.

There has been an avalanche of initiatives.

It could be summer schools the Sutton Trust alone offered summer schools for 1,900

disadvantaged students this summer, joining with 10 universities as part of their access agreements.

Or it could be rebates from fees. Every part of the higher education system is keenly aware that it has

to do more to attract students from disadvantaged homes (and I write as principal of Hertford

College, Oxford). They are aware, too, that Offa is getting increasingly tough about its access

agreements. Moreover, they desperately want more disadvantaged students as a matter of principle.

An open-minded visitor from Mars might ask, given all this effort over so many years, why has the

return been so paltry?

The Independent Commission on Fees (which I chair) closely analysed recent data in a report

published last week. From 2010 to 2013, the numbers of students from the most disadvantaged

backgrounds attending the 13 most selective universities increased by 9%. For the 30 most selective

universities, this figure was 12%. Good news. But the numbers entering from the most advantaged

backgrounds also increased over the same period up by 5% and 14% for the top 13 and 30

universities respectively. So there has been a slight narrowing of the entry gap at the most selective

universities from 2010 to 2013, but it remains extremely large.

In raw numbers, in 2013, 11,695 students from the most advantaged backgrounds entered the top 13

universities, but only 1,232 from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, an almost tenfold difference.

The ratio drops to just over seven times for the 30 most selective universities. For the entire

university sector, the difference in 2013 stood at 2.8. You can bet that very few of the 1,400 more

students going to university from disadvantaged homes will be going to the top 13 universities.



This matters. There is growing concern that too much of Britain's elite sport is occupied by athletes

educated at private schools: for example, 41 % of the medals won at the 2012 Olympics went to the

privately educated. We know that sporting talent will be randomly distributed among the 700,000

babies born every year. Yet the British system ensures that it will be those lucky enough to be born

into households rich enough to educate them privately that will have the best chance to lift their

natural sporting ability to Olympic standards. By any moral code, this is not fair, but beyond

morality this is a huge squandering of talent.

The same is true of intellectual and academic ability. The Sutton Trust reports that four private

schools and one sixth form college in Cambridge send as many students to Oxbridge as nearly 2,000

state schools. Are we to believe that native academic ability is uniquely concentrated in the children

of parents rich enough to afford to pay the fees (or live in the catchment area of Hills Road sixth

form college, Cambridge)? The differences even come through in personal statements accompanying

university applications: 70% of students from private schools with the same grades are generally

admitted to top universities compared to 50% from state schools. The key difference is personal

statements, testifying to vast differences in cultural capital and experience. Manchester University's

Steven Jones, for example, observes the different impression conveyed by accounts of work

experience that involve a Saturday job or a school visit to a business, on the one hand, with a

personal statement that cites work with a local radio station, with a City law firm or a designer, on

the other.

What is to be done? One of the worries about the 9k fee regime was that it would deter applications

overall, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged students. It has certainly devastated part-time

higher education there are now, incredibly, 100,000 fewer candidates studying this way,

traditionally a popular choice for those from moderate- and low-income homes. Mature student

numbers are also well down. But application rates from 18-year-olds for full-time education to

English, Welsh and Northern Irish universities are all up on 2010.

Part of the reason is the recognition of the value of higher education, part is the state of the jobs

market for 18-year-olds with wages falling. But also in play might be some reservation about taking

on so much debt. For some 18-year-olds, repayment even of tens of thousands of pounds can seem

very distant in a far-off world of adulthood after university when, in any case, your earnings have

to be above 21k to start paying. But, equally, for others, the prospect of a chunk of debt might be

offputting. Distant prospect or not, less debt is plainly better than more.



One obvious way of persuading more kids from poorer homes to apply would be to universalise the

patchwork quilt of access agreement rebates into a standard lower fee for disadvantaged applicants. .

So a skewed fee regime would help, but the reality is that differential university applications reflect

the desperately unequal society Britain has become and also reflect the ongoing offence to any

system of morality presented by such widespread private education.

We should open up private schools, invest disproportionately in state schools in weaker

neighbourhoods and pay teachers as proper professionals. But above all we should be mobilising

against inequality in all its manifestations in housing, jobs, wages, access to the internet, sport and

culture. There is no future for Britain other than as a smart society, and the more our people are

enfranchised, the smarter we will be. Universities can, and will, play their part, but they can't solve

society-wide failures by themselves.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/upshot/helping-the-poor-in-higher-education-the-power-of-a-

simple-nudge.html

There are enormous inequalities in education in the United States. A child born into a poor family

has only a 9 percent chance of getting a college degree, but the odds are 54 percent for a child in a

high-income family. These gaps open early, with poor children less prepared than their kindergarten

classmates.

How can we close these gaps? Contentious, ambitious reforms of the education system crowd the

headlines: the Common Core, the elimination of teacher tenure, charter schools. The debate is heated

and sometimes impolite (a recent book about education is called The Teacher Wars).

Yet as these debates rage, researchers have been quietly finding small, effective ways to improve

education. They have identified behavioral nudges that prod students and their families to take

small steps that can make big differences in learning. These measures are cheap, so schools or

nonprofits could use them immediately.

Lets start with college. At every step of the way, low-income students are more likely to stumble on

vp ng the path to higher education. Even the summer after high school is a perilous time, with 20

percent of those who plan to attend college not actually enrolling a phenomenon known as



summer melt. Bureaucratic barriers, like the labyrinthine process of applying for financial aid,

explain some of the drop-off.

While they were graduate students at Harvard, two young professors designed and tested a program

to help students stick to their college plans. Benjamin L. Castleman, now at the University of

Virginia, and Lindsay C. Page, at the University of Pittsburgh, set up a system of automatic,

personalized text messages that reminded high school students about their college deadlines. The

texts included links to required forms and live counselors.

The result? Students who received the texts were more likely to enroll in college: 70 percent,

compared with 63 percent of those who did not get them. Seven percentage points is a big increase

in this field, similar to the gains produced by scholarships that cost thousands of dollars. Yet this

program cost only $7 per student.

The same researchers also tested a texting program to keep students from dropping out of college.

The problem is important because the graduation rate of low-income college students is dismally

low; two-thirds leave without a degree. Community college students received texts reminding them

to complete their re-enrollment forms, particularly aid applications. Among freshmen who received

the texts, 68 percent went on to complete their sophomore year, compared with 54 percent of those

who got no nudges. This, too, is a big impact especially for a program that cost only $5 per

student.

We know these programs worked because they were evaluated, like all the innovations cited in this

column, using a randomized, controlled trial. Randomized trials, once rare in education research, are

increasingly common. The What Works Clearinghouse, which reviews and rates the quality of

education research, lists 242 randomized trials.

Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story

Students were randomly assigned to receive texts or not receive them. Because the two groups were

randomly defined, they were basically indistinguishable at the start of the study. They diverged as

the texts altered the behavior of those who got them compared with those who did not.

Text messaging wont help everyone get through college, and cheap interventions wont solve every

problem. But they solve some problems for some students, freeing up time and financial resources

for those who need other kinds of help.



Some students need personal counseling to help them balance the demands of school, family and

work. Unfortunately, counselors are stretched thin, often carrying caseloads of thousands of students.

Social media rules! I commonly ask college students their sources of news, virtually all report

Teitter, none respond newspapers. Teachers...

I am happy. I grew up poor. In elementary and middle school, my lunch consisted of a peanut butter

and jelly sandwich, and a chocolate milk...

=

The biggest problem with the education of children in poverty is poverty. That is where they live and

breathe and try to survive, many times...

http://www.nysut.org/news/nysut-united/issues/2013/november-2013/how-poverty-impacts-student-

success-in-higher-education

When considering economic privilege and inequity, baseball is an apt metaphor. The wealthy start

the game at third with the bases loaded, needing only a solid hit to reach home and a future

cushioned by privilege. Waiting at second and first are the middle class, with a more difficult path,

but home plate still within reach. Buried in the lineup are the poor. For them, crossing home plate is

no guarantee.

This inequality is starkly evident in higher education, where soaring costs, shrinking financial aid

and underfunded educational opportunity programs have made earning a college degree increasingly

difficult. Many students from low-income backgrounds work hard to get into college. But staying

often poses an even bigger challenge.

"Somewhere between 50 and 60 percent of our students' family incomes are under $30,000

annually," said Michael Fabricant, a Hunter College professor and treasurer for the Professional

Staff Congress, representing faculty and staff at the City University of New York.

Living in poverty, or on the cusp of poverty, puts students in an untenable position either work several jobs to afford tuition, take on student loan debt, or attend college part-time since full-time

attendance is unaffordable, all of which can impede success.

State support dwindling

State funding for the State University of New York and CUNY has fallen significantly over time. In

2000, nearly 60 percent of SUNY and CUNY operating budgets were state funded. More than a

decade later, these percentages have flip-flopped, with about 40 percent of funding for SUNY and 51

percent for CUNY coming from the state. NYSUT lobbied hard for higher education funding this

year in partnership with its higher education locals gaining an additional $30 million for community colleges, and $1.2 million for childcare at SUNY and CUNY campuses but it's simply not enough.



Since 2008, overall state funding for SUNY, CUNY and community colleges has fallen roughly $1.7

billion.

And despite tuition increases, Tuition Assistance Program grants New York state's main financial aid grant program for students have remained fixed for more than 10 years at a maximum of $5,000 annually for up to eight semesters.

Tuition outpacing TAP grants has "students clamoring for work-study hours their first semester of

college," said Marc Dearstyne, a senior program counselor for SUNY Cortland's Educational

Opportunity Program and co-chair of United University Professions' EOP committee. UUP

represents academic and professional faculty at SUNY. EOP provides funding and advisement for

promising, economically disadvantaged students.

While a willingness to work is a positive quality, it's not the best choice for a first-semester freshman

trying to adjust to college life, said Dearstyne, who worries many will find the pressure

overwhelming.

"We believe accessible, affordable higher education is a right a civil and human right and our state leaders should be ensuring that right to all students," said UUP President Fred Kowal. "We

don't want to see the system transformed into a place that is less accessible to poor and working class

families."

Making tough choices

Sometimes poverty's impact is not always evident in the classroom. "We have students who have to

choose between subway fare and lunch, and that come from homeless shelters," said PSC President

Barbara Bowen, who objects to rating colleges based on student outcomes, when little is done to

address poverty.

"The skills students come in with are dramatically different, depending on where they come from

economically," she said. "A commitment to equality of opportunity starts with a commitment to

ending poverty."

That commitment is evident at Suffolk Community College, which offers food pantries at all of its

campuses to help students make ends meet, said Kevin Peterman, president of the Faculty

Association of Suffolk Community College. "We want to help students stay in college," said

Peterman. "Many of them are living on the edge."

Ellen Schuler Mauk, chair of the NYSUT Higher Education Committee and a NYSUT Board

member, agrees.

"People consider community colleges inexpensive compared to other colleges, but often tuition is

still unreachable for students," said Schuler Mauk, FASCC past president.

"Without food pantries, scholarships and grants, many wouldn't be able to come to us."



Even for the best students, the lingering effect of poverty makes transitioning to college difficult.

"Many students come from homes where they haven't been taught human-capital skills," said

Charles Clarke, president emeritus of the Faculty Association of Monroe Community College, and a

psychology professor.

For low-income students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college, navigating

the channels of higher education can be challenging. They often lack guidance at home, and access

to campus advisement is falling due to flat funding. "If you have a counselor who needs to help 200

students, some students get lost in the cracks," Clarke said.

Leveling the playing field for all college students won't be easy, but NYSUT is committed to

fighting for increased higher education funding, said Maria Neira, NYSUT vice president. Education

costs money, but no investment offers New York state more economic, cultural and intellectual

benefits. "Making higher education a priority in New York state begins with providing the funding

for it," said Neira. "We can't continue the current trend of disinvestment if we hope to compete in the

global economy. It's time for the state to get its priorities straight, and make the needed investments

in our higher education system."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/education/despite-promises-little-progress-in-drawing-poor-to-

elite-colleges.html

grants for pay off (tr ht) students loan after graduation

repayment with low-interest rate

http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jul/28/graduates-move-abroad-

pay-back-student-loan

The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) is running a year-long comparison of the Australian

and English university systems. The objective is to reveal some lessons for public policy.

Given that new evidence is the bread-and-butter of academia, it's been an unexpectedly bumpy ride.

When we published our initial findings, one observer claimed, "Hepi's suggestion that there are

lessons to be learned from down under is particularly misguided".

In fact, it undoubtedly makes sense to compare and contrast the two systems. They resemble non-

identical twins: strikingly alike and strikingly different at the same time.

Moreover, the lessons run both ways. Australia has better support for postgraduate students, while

England deals better with the living costs of full-time undergraduates.



But perhaps the critics have a point nonetheless. Restricting the comparison to just two nations gives

an incomplete picture.

Take the issue of recouping payments from former students working abroad. Plenty of indebted

Australian graduates leave the country soon after their studies. Similarly, many EU residents

studying in England return home owing substantial sums to the Student Loans Company. Yet neither

Australia nor England has found effective ways to collect the repayments of those who leave.

Australian graduates who have left the country owe hundreds of millions of dollars. Little is done to

track them down. According to economist Bruce Chapman and senior lecturer Timothy Higgins,

both at the Australian National University, the Australian loan system "seems to be the only income

contingent loan policy which does not include any regulations designed to minimise losses for

taxpayers from graduates going overseas".

The English story is not much better. Around 6% of graduates are working overseas soon after

graduating. But according to Margaret Hodge MP, the chair of the committee of public accounts, the

Student Loans Company knows very little about them: "Will they ever pay back their loans? The

Student Loans Company simply doesn't know."

The authorities are effectively playing a game of hide-and-seek in which those hiding can go

anywhere in the world while those searching don't have the resources to do it properly.

Even those critics who would like to see an entirely new student funding system want to see the non-

repayment problem tackled. Toni Pearce, the president of the UK's National Union of Students and a

fierce critic of the current regime, has said: "I am a taxpayer and I am interested in making sure that

the money is recouped."

A third Anglophone country may hold the answer. New Zealanders typically set off on "the big OE",

or overseas expedition, shortly after graduating. When they do so, the government recalibrates their

annual loan repayments so that they are obliged to pay somewhere in the region of 10% of their debt

each year. In other words, their income-contingent loans come to look more like mortgage-style

loans.

New Zealand also charges former students living abroad a real rate of interest that is not applied to

others, and late payment interest can be applied too.



Those Kiwis who still manage to evade the system face more draconian action. They can even be

barred from leaving their home country when they next go back to see relatives.

The authorities warn they will "request an arrest warrant to stop borrowers from leaving New

Zealand next time they visit".

As more countries build up sizeable student loan books, the problems of non-repayment may

encourage cross-border collection agreements. Australia and New Zealand have already shown signs

of starting to work together on the issue and, given the number of antipodeans who come to the UK

each year, there is clearly scope to extend such co-operation.

In England, the problem of non-repayment by those who have left our shores will take on a new

urgency in the months ahead. When the student numbers cap is removed next year, people in other

EU nations will find it easier to come and study here, which will in time lead to an increase in the

number of graduates from English universities who live elsewhere.

And were Scotland to become independent after this year's referendum, there would be a whole new

set of cross-border loan repayment challenges for policymakers to grapple with.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/bursaries-fail-to-help-poor-students-stay-the-

course/2011863.article

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/nov/06/call-student-loans-review-rejected-government

Americans have more than $1.2tn in student loans at least, they think they do.

Many college freshmen, at least, are not actually aware how they are paying their tuition an

indication of a larger trend of students taking on debt blindly, unaware how much they are actually

borrowing.

Six in 10 college freshmen dont really know how much debt they have taken on to pay for their first

year in college, revealed a survey of 599 students at one American public university.

Debt seemed to just fall into a black hole for many young people. Just 38% of the respondents were

able to estimate the amount of student loans they have taken on to pay for their freshman year.

About 16% had no idea what their debt was, 19% underestimated their burden and 28%

overestimated.



The surveys results werent a fluke, say Elizabeth J Akers and Matthew M Chingos of the

Brookings Institution.

Comparing the results to a nationwide dataset, Akers and Chingos determined that the responses

collected at that one college campus were representative of the nation.

Students lack of awareness about the amount of their debt was typical across all types of colleges.

At a public four-year colleges, 24% correctly estimated their student debt within 10%, while 22%

overestimated and 54% underestimated it.

At private colleges, 27% knew about how much they owed, while 23% overestimated and 50%

underestimated.

At two-year colleges, 29% got it right, while 22% of students overestimated their burden and 49%

underestimated it.

Students who had financial aid packages containing federal student loans were the most likely to say

they had no debt.

The largest number of students underestimated their federal debt level by between $5,000 and

$6,000. This is because $5,500 is one of the most common debt levels for first-year students, and

many students with federal debt report that do not have any federal debt, write Akers and Chingos.

We find that among students with federal loans, 28% reported having no federal debt and 14% said

they didnt have any student debt at all.

Among major types of federal loans are federal Perkins loans, William D Ford direct Stafford loans,

direct PLUS loans and direct consolidation loans.

Outstanding federal student debt accounts for 92% of the student loans market. Of the $1.2tn owed

in student loans, over $1.1tn is in federal student loans.

The Brookings study was focused on college freshmen. It is unclear whether this confusion about

their student debt continues up to and past their graduation, when many of these loans start

coming due and begin to collect interest.

There are indications, however, that ignorance of debt burdens extends past graduation. By

September 2013, about 174,800 borrowers who had defaulted on their federal student loans were

having their paychecks garnished, according to the Wall Street Journal. Thats 45% more people

than 10 years ago.

Once borrowers are considered for wage garnishment, the Department of Education can take as

much as 15% of their after-tax income. The government does not need court approval to start

garnishing a persons wages.



The majority of borrowers who had their wages garnished, at 72%, had their income garnished for

longer than a year. Many remain in garnishment for as long as five to 10 years, Mark Kantrowitz,

senior vice-president at Edvisors.com, told the Wall Street Journal. According to Edvisors.com,

which tracks student-loan debt, by March 2014, 2.5 million borrowers were in default on their

federal student loans.

It is possible, even likely, that this lack of knowledge will cause students to be surprised when their

financial circumstances become apparent, perhaps when their first loan payment comes due, write

Akers and Chingos. They say that students who find themselves in such circumstances express regret

about their college education choices.

Guardian readers have previously expressed frustration with the lack of knowledge and advice they

had regarding the financing of their college education.

I wish my parents had pushed for me to go to a community college or had helped me weigh my

options better. Instead I went to a private university and received a degree in the humanities. At 26, I

have over $30,000 in student loans. I just got my first real job, where I have been able to start

paying down my debt, Shay, a reader from Montana, told the Guardian. But does an 18-year-old

really understand the concept of what $40,000 in debt is? I hardly think so.

Not being aware of how much debt one has after graduation can quickly escalate and lead to missed

payments and default. Loans are considered in default if borrowers miss 12 monthly payments in the

row. Defaulting on federal student loans can lead to garnishment of paychecks.

To get its money back the US government also has garnished social security benefits and federal tax

refunds. In 2013, the money taken out of Americans social security checks amounted to $150m. The

money collected through garnished federal tax returns amounted to a whopping $2bn.

While student-loan defaults are well above historic levels, at 11.1%, its not just recent graduates

who are responsible. It turns out that about $18bn of the $1.1tn owed in federal student loans is owed

by Americans 65 and older

http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/dec/15/us-college-freshmen-student-debt

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/11393480/Student-loans-are-tough-to-clear-

even-when-youve-got-the-cash.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/student-finance/9554693/Student-finance-

Students-wrongly-worry-about-repaying-tuition-fees-study-shows.html



Pathways to university burden the poor in Vietnam The gateway to university is considered an impossible dream and a burden for a number of

Vietnamese students and their families.

Many families, particularly those living in remote and rural areas in Vietnam lack the financial

ability to support their childrens study at universities. Every year thousands of students who pass the university entrance exams have to give up studying

because their families dont have enough money to afford their basic needs at campus such as food, accommodation, tuition fees and books.

New Vietnamese students undergo a great deal of stress owing to the number of additional school

fees, including charges for uniforms, enrolment, assessment, insurance premium and other training

activities.

Tran Thi Kim Nhien, an 18 year-old girl in Tra On district, Vinh Long province says that she is

happy that she has been accepted at the University of Can Tho, but theres a strong possibility she may have to withdraw because of unaffordable tuition fees and escalating expenses.

Living in a dilapidated house without electricity with her aunt, Nhien has been struggling for 12

years of high school under the light of a oil lamp but she always achieved excellent results in her

studies.

I want to study well to escape from the current poverty. Nhien says. The day Nhien received the acceptance letter from Can Tho university, she burst into a convulsive

sob in her aunts arms. Nhiens aunt is proud of her niece, but she also worries about the uncertainty of Nhiens pathway to the university. Nhiens studies at university for the next 4 years have raised a big question for the family. Can they afford it?

The living costs in Vietnam are continuously rising and as a result, private universities will have to

increase their fees.

It is estimated that Vietnamese students have to pay an average of over AUD100 per month when

they step into universities. This amount is daunting to poor families in rural areas.

The tuition fee levels are even higher in private universities and others in big cities in Vietnam such

as Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi.

Therefore, it is understandable that many great students are being left behind due to financial

burdens.

For parents who want their children to overcome poverty through learning, theres no choice but to strive to earn their living and support their childrens studies. However, many of them fail to do this. Vu Xuan Hanh has been worrying a lot since he knew that his son passed the entrance exam to the

University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi. Both Hanh and his wife are unemployed and

the family is considered one of the poorest households in Hai Duong province.

The house theyre living in was built by the sponsorship of the local government. The situation is worse for the couple because they suffer from constant illness.

We have no other choice but to ask our beloved son to quit his dream to become a scientist. It costs thousands of Australian dollar each year to study at university and that amount of money is honestly

a big asset for us, Hanh states. Everyday, the 45 year-old building worker Vu Trung Dung in Hanoi has to ride a bike for over 30km

to work. However, with a total income of just over AUD100 per month, Dungs family is facing with numerous difficulties.



Their son, named Vu Hai Ha has just been admitted into Hanoi National University and it creates a

big challenge for the family.

Ha promised he would try to find a part-time job to help us and to afford his studies himself in the city, says Has mother. Certainly Ha can find a job. Yet, like other poor new students in Vietnam, he might not earn enough

to pay for the increasing tuition fee, food, housing and other expenses even if he has a part-time job.

Therefore, his future at the university is still unsure!

Although the Vietnamese Government has implemented various solutions to support poor students in

the country, the future of new students still looks gloomy. Not all the poor citizens in the country can

benefit from government policies and many of them have to give up their university dream

unwillingly.

A low-interest loan scheme launched by the Vietnamese Government has become a rescue for more

than two million poor students across the country in the past three years, many other students still

find hard to get access to the policy due to strict loan procedures.

Poverty is serving as a driving force for the poor to bring up their desire to study , however its also the biggest obstacle in their path towards a better education.

Securing a place in a public university is considered a major step towards a successful career,

especially for those from rural areas or disadvantaged families. The pressure on the candidates

therefore remains very high, despite the measures taken to reduce the importance of these exams. In

2004, it was estimated that nearly one million students took the exam, but on average, only 20%

passed.

Chn lm tay bn: Toiling and moiling in the fields; by/in the sweat of one's brow; toil hard; toil and

moil

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