Claire Callender

• PhD
• Professor at UCL Institute of Education

In 2020–2021, 94% of undergraduates in England took out government-backed loans to fund their higher education. The growing and widespread use of student loans in England, mounting student debt, and governments’ increasing dependence on tuition fees underwritten by loans to finance public higher education raise important questions which this paper...

Examines graduates' views of the student loan system in England

Student borrowing is a major higher education public policy issue, with students in both England and the United States increasingly relying on loans to finance postsecondary education. Our paper examines prospective higher education students' attitudes towards debt in England and the United States. It exploits a unique dataset which allows us to co...

Since 1990, a series of cost-sharing policies in England have changed how higher education and undergraduates are funded. A funding system predicated on student loan debt emerged, informed by neo-liberal thinking and ideas underpinning the marketization of higher education. Annual tuition fees of £9000 were introduced in 2012 for all full-time unde...

A hallmark of English higher education (HE) over the last twenty years have been policies seeking to increase provider competition and student choice. Central to this has been student funding policy changes, leading to rising college costs. This paper asks if prospective HE students’ concerns about college costs and the financial strategies they an...

This article analyses the interaction between two policy areas affecting young people in England – housing and student funding. It is the first of its kind exploring a range of dynamics in the relationship between housing and student loan debt. Young people today are far less likely to own their home and are more likely to live with their parents t...

England and the United States provide a very interesting pairing as countries with many similarities, but also instructive dissimilarities, with respect to their policies for higher education access and success. We focus on five key policy strands: student information provision; outreach from higher education institutions; student financial aid; af...

Changing Higher Education for a Changing World draws on the outcomes of the cutting-edge research programmes of the UK-based Centre for Global Higher Education, the world’s largest social science research centre focused on higher education and its future. In countries with incomes at European levels, the majority of all families now have connection...

Recent changes in higher education financing policies in England have led to more students funding their studies via two types of student loan—for tuition fees and/or for maintenance. Moreover, the average amount borrowed has been increasing. Yet not all students take out loans, and understanding the determinants of take-up is important, not least...

The original version of this article unfortunately contained mistakes. Below are the corrections: 1. On page 9, "83%" should be changed to "84%" in this line "However, because most students take out both types of loans (84% of borrowers in...."

A hallmark of recent higher education policy in developed economies is the move towards quasi-markets involving greater student choice and provider competition, underpinned by cost-sharing policies. This paper examines the idealizations and illusions of student choice and marketization in higher education policy in England, although the overall con...

Around the world, student loan debt is rising. Growing numbers of students rely on student loans to pay for their higher education and their levels of borrowing are increasing compared with previous decades. In countries like England it is anticipated that the majority of graduates will be repaying their loans for most of their working lives. For m...

Part-time undergraduate study has an important role both in widening participation and in developing skills. Since 2010, the number of part-time undergraduate entrants living in England attending UK universities and English further education colleges has fallen annually. By 2015, the numbers nationally had decreased by 51%, by 63% at the Open Unive...

This article explores what England and the United States can learn from each other withregard to reducing social class and racial/ethnic differences in higher education accessand completion. It focuses on seven policy strands: student information provision;outreach from higher education institutions; student financial aid; affirmative action orcont...

This article explores what England and the United States can learn from each other withregard to reducing social class and racial/ethnic differences in higher education accessand completion. It focuses on seven policy strands: student information provision;outreach from higher education institutions; student financial aid; affirmative action orcont...

England and the United States provide a very interesting pairing as countries with many similarities, but also instructive dissimilarities, with respect to their policies for higher education access and success. The purpose of this paper is to explore these similarities and dissimilarities with an eye to what each country can learn from the other w...

England and the United States provide a very interesting pairing as countries with many similarities, but also instructive dissimilarities, with respect to their policies for higher education access and success. The purpose of this paper is to explore these similarities and dissimilarities with an eye to what each country can learn from the other w...

Research among prospective UK undergraduates in 2002 found that some students, especially from low social classes, were deterred from applying to university because of fear of debt. This paper investigates whether this is still the case today in England despite the changing higher education landscape since 2002. The paper describes findings from a...

The United Kingdom has a truly mass system of higher education. The total number of higher education students enrolled in universities and colleges was 2.5 million in 2014/15 (Table 1). Many more are studying on lower-level technical education courses in further education colleges and on adult education courses.

This chapter addresses the following key questions: What is cost-sharing in HE, and why and how has it become part of the HE policy landscape? What are the key cost-sharing policies? Have cost-sharing policies met their purported objectives and led to greater financial sustainability, equity, efficiency, and responsiveness of HE systems? It attempt...

p>This article calls into question the UK government’s desire to develop a private higher education sector in England. It argues that the government’s policies are exclusively ideologically driven and are unlikely to fulfil their aims while simultaneously diverting resources away from the already highly marketized public higher education sector.</p

This paper reports on recent research aimed at assessing how the management of the undergraduate student experience in English higher education is changing in the light of the new tuition fee regime introduced in 2012, as well as other government policies aimed at creating market-type pressures within the higher education sector. A distinction was...

Part-time undergraduate higher education is central to lifelong learning and to national skills policies, promoted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2012) and others to transform lives and to drive economies forward by providing high-level skills and thus enhancing a country’s competitiveness and economic strength....

The British government is introducing dramatic changes to the funding of higher education in England, including the withdrawal of most of its funding for teaching and a threefold increase in undergraduate tuition fees. These reforms herald the retreat of the federal state from financial responsibility for HE, boosting HE's private-good functions at...

The International Panel was asked to consider the following issues: – What are the main characteristics of the Finnish Higher Education (HE) system and how has the system developed over the last decade? How has the system dealt with the major policy trends? How does the Finnish HE system compare to other European systems? Are there differences in o...

Book synopsis: The 21st century has the potential to be the era of universal higher education access: the post-massification century. The growth of knowledge-based service industries and an increased need for technological and social innovations require more education, training, and re-training at the post-secondary level. This edited collection ad...

In 2011/12, 30 per cent of UK domiciled undergraduates attending English higher education institutions, or 436,450 students, studied part-time (HESA, 2012). However, until 2010, part-time provision and students have been on the periphery of England’s higher education policy agenda. Policy concerns have focused on those who enter higher education st...

This research report, prepared between January 2014 and July 2014, assesses how the management of the undergraduate student experience in English higher education (HE) is changing as a result of a more competitive environment, and in particular the impact of the new tuition fee regime introduced in 2012.

This document summarises the key findings of a review of the National Student Survey (NSS). The NSS, first launched in 2005, collects feedback from undergraduate students in the UK, via a survey, on their experiences of various aspects of their courses. The review was commissioned by the UK Higher Education funding bodies, and undertaken by NatCen...

This article explores how the Robbins Report's recommendations for a massive expansion in higher education alongside a comprehensive system of student financial support, both financed by the public purse, came about and were translated into policy. It argues that these policies, including the Robbins principle, the desire for expanding educational...

Within the UK, part-time study is now seen as important in meeting wider government objectives for higher education (HE) and for sustainable economic growth through skills development. Yet, measures to capture the impact of HE may not be wholly appropriate to part-time study. In particular, the continuing focus on tangible, economic measures may be...

This research aimed to examine undergraduate courses run by Birkbeck and the Open University (OU) targeted at student parents. These courses were delivered in Children’s Centres which were located in areas of multiple deprivation, including exceptionally low higher education participation. They were designed specifically to help overcome some of th...

The National Student Survey (NSS) has run since 2004. The UK higher education funding bodies, which own the survey, commissioned NatCen, the University of London's Institute of Education and the Institute for Employment Studies to review the current purposes of the NSS and how effectively it meets them, and to make recommendations for the survey’s...

Event synopsis: The Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE) is biannual conference (April and October). The IICE-2015 will be held from the 20th to 22nd of April, 2015 in Dublin. The IICE is an international refereed conference dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in education. The IICE promotes collaborative excell...

Book synopsis: How is policy made in higher education, particularly in the wake of recent economic turbulence? Has policy development converged internationally, and if so, what impact has this had on academic life and institutions? What role does policy-oriented research play in shaping the direction of higher education? Are universities grappling...

This study sought to understand the nature of higher education provision delivered in further education colleges in England and to describe and analyse the current pattern of provision, participation and collaboration. IOE Research Briefings are short descriptions of significant research findings, based on the wide range of projects carried out by...

This chapter provides a critique of the 2012/13 reforms of part-time student finances inEngland, and of the 2011White Paper Students at the Heart of the system more generally. Itargues that the new loans introduced for part-time students in 2012/12 are more likely to re-enforce or perpetuate existing injustices rather than eradicate them and have...

Book synopsis: The financing of higher education is undergoing great change in many countries around the world. In recent years many countries are moving from a system where the costs of funding higher education are shouldered primarily by taxpayers, through government subsidies, to one where students pay a larger share of the costs. There are a nu...

Variable tuition fees and bursaries, funded by higher education institutions, were introduced in England to promote student choice and provider competition, while bursaries would off-set higher fees and safeguard access. Both have been central to government reforms of undergraduate student funding since 2004. This article assesses student perceptio...

Reflecting the changing ideological and economic perspectives of the government of the day, the expansion of higher education in England has prompted numerous reforms aimed at reshaping and restructuring the sector and its funding. Leading to student riots and sparking some of the sharpest controversies in British higher education the reforms intro...

This report presents findings from a follow-up survey conducted in 2010/11 of 1021 part-time students who were originally surveyed in 2007/08 when they were in their final year of undergraduate study. The report examines how these students progressed in the two years following the original interviews,and asks what qualifications they achieved, whet...

Event synopsis: Celebrating Robbins: the impact of the Robbins Report on British Higher Education 1963-2013 The Centre for Higher Education Studies, in association with the Times Higher Education, is holding a one day conference on 24th October 2013 at the Institute of Education, University of London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publica...

Book synopsis: This edition of Social Policy Review marks the 40th anniversary of a publication from the UK Social Policy Association devoted to presenting an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship. It includes a special Anniversary Preface celebrating the publication's evolution and distinctive contributions. Contin...

Event synopsis: The 2012 SRHE Annual Conference focused on a key question currently being asked about higher education across the globe: What is Higher Education for? This question has become rich territory for politicians, economists, financiers and business enterprises, social commentators, journalists and broadcasters. The voice of higher educa...

Event synopsis: Governments in Canada and elsewhere have embraced “austerity” as a necessary public policy to eliminate budgetary deficits and ensure future prosperity. How has this “austerity agenda” affected faculty, students, administrators and institutions in Ontario, in Canada, and globally? Is “austerity” inevitable, or are there alternatives...

Event synopsis: The Futuretrack 2012 conference presented the latest findings from the longitudinal Futuretrack and Futuretrack: part-time students studies. The event was designed to generate discussion about the findings in order to consider the implications for policy and practice.

This summary presents the main findings from research undertaken for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to understand the current nature of higher education (HE) in further education colleges (FECs) in England. The study was carried out between March 2011 and March 2012 by a team from the University of Sheffield and the Instit...

This article critically assesses the nature and scope of current financial support for part-time undergraduates in England, highlighting its importance for widening participation. It considers the limitations of these financial arrangements, why they are in need of reform, and some of the consequences of their inadequacies. The paper argues that th...

This report discusses the findings of a study undertaken by Birkbeck, University of London and the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, commissioned by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills to examine the impact of higher education (HE) on the labour market experiences of graduates who studied part-time and full-time as underg...

This report explores the supply of part-time higher education in the UK, with particular consideration to the study of part-time undergraduate provision in England. It is the final publication in the series of reports on individual student markets that were commissioned by Universities UK following the publication of the reports on the Future size...

Event synopsis: The Conference will begin with the Conference welcome and keynote address at 11.15am on Tuesday 9 December 2008 and will end after final paper presentation sessions at 4.00pm on Thursday 11 December 2008. The conference programme will include a rich and diverse range of contributions: Individual paper presentations Discussion works...

Event synopsis: Our conference theme this year is: Higher Education and Public Policy: What is the Optimal Alignment? Through this focus, we seek to engage the ASHE community in reflecting on how their research can inform the crucial policy debates now swirling in our field, from those relating to the fiscal challenges and demographic changes highe...

Event synopsis: This seminar was hosted by FACE jointly with the Educational Access Research Network (EARN). This event looked at the actual evidence concerning the impact of cost on the attitudes of young people regarding progression to higher education. In the midst of the crucial review of Higher Education Finance and student support arrangement...

Institutional grants, or bursaries, now are a central feature of the student financial aid systems in the United States and England. In some instances they are a student’s sole source of financial aid, for others they supplement aid available from other sources. Unlike aid available from government sources, these grants are under the control of ind...

This paper will critically analyse why student support for part-time students ‘is not sufficient’ and discuss some of the challenges facing the Browne Review. It will explore the scale of financial support for part-timers and who benefits and who loses, calling on the findings of a recent national study of 3,700 part-time students. The paper will a...

Event synopsis: The programme examines what sustainability means for Higher Education, how sustainable practices can be implemented and how they are measured and reported. Subjects covered include: Linking financial strategy and sustainability Reporting sustainability Managing and financing a sustainable workforce Sustainable procurement and value...

Event synopsis: An outward-looking forward-thinking summit stimulating debate and shaping thinking on rising to the challenges facing higher education. The combination of the fiscal crisis and imminent reductions in public service budgets coupled with significant changes in the demands faced by institutions means that the way forward for higher ed...

Synopsis: Now that politicians are facing up to the reality of the fiscal situation, it is a good time to examine opportunities for progressive reform in the tough financial environment – the ‘age of austerity’ – that is likely to dominate in the public sector for much of the next decade.

This report is based on a survey of full-time Higher Education students in England, commissioned by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), and undertaken by Professor Claire Callender of Birkbeck University of London, and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It forms part of a larger programme of research conducted for OFFA, which ai...

This report is based on a survey of 150 higher education (HE) advisors in schools, 6th form colleges and general Further Education Colleges in England. The survey was commissioned by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and undertaken by Professor Claire Callender of Birkbeck University of London, and the National Institute of Economic and Social Rese...

Synopsis: Higher education worldwide is in a period of transition, affected by globalization, the advent of mass access, changing relationships between the university and the state, and the new Technologies, among others. Global Perspectives on Higher Education provides cogent analysis and comparative perspectives on these and other central issues...

Synopsis: Over the past few decades, higher education in the United Kingdom has been transformed, expanding to a mass, bordering on universal, system. There are now almost 2.4 million HE students. In this position of relative strength we are left with two broad options: to accept the status quo, or to ask ourselves some difficult questions about wh...

This report is based on a survey of Higher Education Institutions (HEI), commissioned by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), and undertaken by Professor Claire Callender of Birkbeck University of London, and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It forms part of a larger programme of research conducted for OFFA, which aimed to expl...

This report is based on a survey of Higher Education Institutions (HEI), commissioned by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), and undertaken by Professor Claire Callender of Birkbeck University of London, and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It forms part of a larger programme of research conducted for OFFA, which aimed to expl...

A review of the literature on part-time students focusing on: part-time students' reasons for studying and their experiences of study; links between part-time students and employment (e.g. employer support, negotiating work and study); careers services' and employers' approaches to workers engaged in part-time study. Part-time students have been r...

This good practice guide looks at how higher education institutions (HEIs) can increase awareness, knowledge and takeup of bursaries and scholarships. It is based on the findings of research commissioned by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA)1 and carried out by Professor Claire Callender of Birkbeck, University of London, and David Wilkinson and Reb...

This document summarises the key findings of the first major national study of bursaries and scholarships – exploring the awareness, take-up and impact of institutional bursaries and scholarships in England from the perspective of higher education institutions (HEI), full-time undergraduate students, their parents, and higher education (HE) advisor...

The new student funding regime introduced by the 2004 Higher Education Act in England is predicated on the accumulation of student debt. Variable tuition fees, repaid by student loans, will increase average student loan debt on graduation. This article examines how fear of debt and financial constraints affect prospective students’ choices of where...