Accreditation’s Next Big Moment Is Coming to Campus

Students of Color Moving to More In-Person Instruction

 Colleges and universities should consider conducting reviews of their financial aid and counseling systems to ensure they are meeting the needs of transfer students.

• The average male graduate would pay £6,500 more in loan repayments over their lifetime
• Female graduates on average salaries could repay the same amount
• More students from all geographic regions

A group of students unions led by the London School of Economics and the University of Sheffield has written to the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, and the universities minister, Michelle Donelan, to propose that the government funds a 30% tuition fee rebate for all students this year by increasing interest rates by 3% to 6.2%, meaning it would be repaid only by the highest-earning graduates.

The growing conversations around anti-Asian hate

We are asking for immediate financial justice for Covid-affected cohorts of university students.

The pandemic meant most students were barred from their campuses from the end of the autumn term until 17 May, so they missed out on in-person teaching, access to facilities such as libraries, and social and extracurricular activities. Many were frustrated to find themselves unable to access rooms in halls of residence and flats they had already paid for.

The same is true in higher education. The rules that govern accreditation may not draw stadium crowds, but they are central to how colleges and universities are evaluated, how quality is understood, how well students are served, and how public trust is earned.