It’s an interesting debate – and I don’t for one minute pretend to have the answers. It’s also one that requires a little clarity.
As
a firm believer in the virtues of and rights to access Higher Education, I – like
many – am of the view that there should always be financial support that is essentially
needs-based and intended to ensure those who require additional financial
support are not deterred from University on this basis alone. The National
Scholarship Programme has a merit of its own that should not necessarily be
linked to recruitment targets or bottom line.
The
financial support I am questioning is that which is primarily recruitment
driven – to win over particular cohorts to select a specific institution or discipline
over and above other HEIs.
It’s
a perfectly valid marketing tactic and one that pervades everyday life (‘BOGOF’
still amuses me). Back in November, the Telegraph reported a range of universities
offering up to £10,000 to secure ABBs, including some on my patch (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9670355/Universities-paying-10000-to-sign-up-bright-students.html).
A
review of BCU’s financial support for 2012/13 against that of competitors found
ours to be fairly modest. We did not go down the route of offering large chunks
of cash to secure higher performing students or win back numbers in Clearing.
That said, we did not lose out on our AAB students (though numbers are fairly
small) and our recruitment performance, as per the UCAS figures released
earlier this month, was very good by comparison with many others. Our accepted
applicant figures – according to UCAS – were up 1.8% on 2011/12 (the reality is
that our enrolments after people withdrew or did not turn up were slightly down,
but not by much).
Marketing
logic tells me that we should be offering financial support packages that are
at least on a par with our competitors. Yet I have to wonder that since we did
not do this and, as it transpires, did not need to in 2012, would it really make
commercial sense to increase the money we give out in future, if it’s
potentially to students that would come to us anyway?
A
survey of our own enquirers for 12/13 revealed that 60% said bursaries and
scholarships were quite or very important, but 69% said they would not affect
the students’ decision to apply. Market research released by dh insight this
month based on a small sample of Year 13 students predicted As and Bs found
little awareness of financial incentives and that it was essentially considered
“a nice add on” rather than being a critical part of the decision-making
process. Similarly, the Institute of Fiscal Studies reported last November that
the uncertainty of the whole process which means that students often do not
know what bursaries and scholarships they would be eventually awarded prior to making
their application (and often after enrolment) meant that it made little or no
difference to their decision.
The
issue I have is that much of this research that exists is based purely on
student opinions. Unfortunately, we know that what people say and what they do
aren’t always the same. Not many students said they would pay fees of up to £9,000,
but over 400,000 did and many more intend to do so; UCAS applications for 2013
are up about 3% to date.
I
would like to see some robust market research that analyses the support offered
at particular HEIs against their actual recruitment, particularly those that
did very well in securing AABs and the additional student numbers they were
awarded.
So,
the question remains…should universities be seeking to provide a competitive
market offer when it comes to financial incentives or should they trust that the
broader academic offer will be sufficient to recruit the numbers they desire? What's your view?