Student budgets and widening participation: Comparative experiences of finance in low and higher income undergraduates at a northern red brick university

Hord�sy, Rita; Clark, Tom

Abstract

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Drawing on a thematic analysis of longitudinal qualitative data (ntotal=118), this article takes a “whole student lifecycle” approach to examine how lower and higher income students at an English northern red brick university variously attempted to manage their individual budgets. It explores how students reconcile their income—in the form of loans, grants, and bursaries—with the cost of living. Four arenas of interest are described: planning, budgeting, and managing “the student loan”; disruptions to financial planning; the role of familial support; and strategies of augmenting the budget. In detailing the micro-level constraints on the individual budgets of lower and higher income undergraduates, the article highlights the importance of non-repayable grants and bursaries in helping to sustain meaningful participation in higher tariff, more selective, higher education institutions. It also supports an emerging body of literature that suggests that the continuing amendments to the system of funding higher education in England are unlikely to address inequality of access, participation, and outcome.

Citation

Hordósy, R., & Clark, T. (2019). Student budgets and widening participation: Comparative experiences of finance in low and higher income undergraduates at a northern red brick university. Social Policy and Administration, 53(5), 761-775. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12410

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 10, 2018
• Online Publication Date: May 27, 2018
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Deposit Date: Sep 27, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 28, 2020
• Journal: Social Policy & Administration
• Print ISSN: 0144-5596
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9515
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 761-775
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12410
• Keywords: Development; Sociology and Political Science; Public Administration
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2683335
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/spol.12410
• Additional Information: Received: 2017-07-11; Accepted: 2018-04-10; Published: 2018-05-27; ; This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Hordósy, R, Clark, T. Student budgets and widening participation: Comparative experiences of finance in low and higher income undergraduates at a northern red brick university. Soc Policy Admin. 2019; 53: 761– 775, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12410. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions."
• Contract Date: Sep 30, 2019