How Do Students Expect to Fund a Masters, Anyway?

It's safe to say that higher education funding will be one of several topics in the new government's in-tray (possibly as an item on certain infamous lists).

But postgraduate funding is less likely to be. That's a shame, because student finance is one of the biggest and most obvious flaws in the system we currently have for postgraduate taught (Masters-level) study.

The available student loan no longer bears any real relation to postgraduate fees and has never really attempted to take account of the cost of living during a Masters. And, of course, it's unavailable to international students (including most EU students) who now face far higher visa and immigration fees as a result of the previous government's policies.

So, the following is no surprise:

The percentage of prospective domestic Masters students who list cost as one of the concerns they have about Masters study has been rising steadily during 2023-24:

There's an element of seasonality here as we see by comparing 2023-24 to data from 2022-23: concern falls in the autumn before peaking again in the spring. But the peak for this year is much higher and more sustained.

It's a similar picture for international audiences:

This time concern is higher throughout the current 23-24 period and has been rising pretty consistently since spring 2023. Which was essentially when the (previous) government started making significant increase to application fees for Student Route and Graduate Route visas as well as the Immigration Healthcare Surcharge. This time series is what happens when you do that.

Universities can't entirely remove the financial obstacles facing Masters students (although, as we'll see, institutional support is something many postgraduates will be relying on). But understanding how prospective students are approaching these barriers can help you engage more effectively as a marketer or recruiter – and prepare you for some of the questions you'll probably have to answer.

The following is data from our Pulse survey during 2024 where we've asked prospective Masters students to rank the importance of various funding options. Collecting data in this format allows us to see what's happening beyond the (often obvious) first preference funding options. This is particularly important when most postgraduates will need to rely on a 'portfolio funding' approach.

And university scholarships are almost as important:

Just over a third of prospective PGT Home (UK Masters students) say that "government funding (including student loans and scholarships)" is the most important funding source to them. In this context that almost certainly means the postgraduate Masters loan. If we include the people who rank this option second the proportion rises to 53%.

However, the proportion of people who rank the importance of a "university scholarship, bursary or fee waiver" at first or second isn't far behind at 45%.

This makes sense: the government loan (inadequate as it is) is going to be the go-to funding source for most domestic postgrads. But that very inadequacy means the support you offer as a university is almost as important.

So is "working during study", which ranks first or second for 40% of people and is slightly more likely to be a first choice option than university support. What this suggests is that audiences either don't expect to be able to access university support or don't know about it.

Elsewhere we see that support from third-parties like employers or charitable trusts isn't prioritised (tending to rank fourth or below) and that relying on savings or family isn't popular either. Most prospective postgrads are planning to go it alone, with whatever support they can get from student finance or their university.

A benefit of collecting this data as a ranking is that we see how popular options are as second or third preference. The chart above suggests that university scholarships and part-time work are most popular here. This is even more obvious if we look at second choice options for the 36% who prioritise student loans:

Almost half of the people who say a government loan (or scholarship) is their most important Masters funding option say that a university scholarship is the next-most-important; a little over 25% say they'll then look to income during study and 15% will draw on savings / family support.

Of course, as anyone who's seen me talk about PG recently will know, Masters contains multitudes. And the age group someone fits into makes an unsurprisingly big difference to their funding plans.

A lot of what we see here makes common sense:

• Government support (so, loans) is hugely important to younger postgrads (over half of 18-24 and 43% of 25-34 say this is their first-choice option).
• Savings become more important to older audiences (presumably because they also become more extant).
• And in-study-income is a more significant source of support for people later in their careers (with presumably more significant employment commitments and income).

But it's interesting to see that university support actually peaks in the 25-34 age group. This audience is clearly aware of the postgraduate loan, but perhaps they need to see some sort of scholarship or discount from the university too – and perhaps that offer might actually make more difference here than for current undergraduates. Perhaps.

The proportion of prospective international Masters students prioritising the university as a funding source is higher than the proportion of domestic students prioritising the postgraduate student loan:

A little over 20% say they'll rely on "government support (including student loans and scholarships" but this probably means something a little different in this context; most international students won't be eligible for a UK loan, so "government support" will either mean a scholarship such as Chevening or a sending scheme provided by their home country.

One thing I'll just note here is that the vast majority of this audience are not planning to rely primarily on work, it is something they'd like to be able to do for additional support.

Nor are most international students expecting to draw on substantial private means (their own or their family's). Most really do need a 'new' way of supporting themselves through an (increasingly) expensive study abroad process.

For international students, it's useful to break this down by audience:

Some things are broadly similar. University scholarships are top for all audiences (though lowest for Europe) and pretty much nobody is expecting an employer to pay for their Masters abroad (though this is highest for Europe).

Recent 'growth' audiences (Africa, South Asia) are less likely to rely on work or family. Conversely, East & Southeast Asia (which includes China) audiences are quite a bit more likely to draw on savings and family support, as are 'western' audiences (from North America and Europe).

Oh, and it's Europe (not all those 'other' students) who are most likely to rely on employment during study.

There's a lot to unpick from this data and potentially more to dig into in future, but for now, I'd note the following:

• Domestic students will go to the PG loan, but they'll look to supplement it with university scholarships and / or part-time work. These are both areas you can support on (with advice, guidance and direction as well as actual funding).
• Domestic audiences are largely self-reliant. The 'bank of Mum and Dad' doesn't appear to be present for prospective Masters students in 2024 (even if the available student finance requires it).
• University scholarshops may actually make the most difference for recent graduates / working-age 25-34 year-olds – and it might be worth targeting campaigns accordingly.
• International postgraduates really do look to the university for support.
• European audiences are the most 'self-reliant' in their funding.
• No international audiences are expecting to rely chiefly on employment.

We'll look to do something similar for PGR (PhD) in the future. In the meantime, let us know if you have any questions about this data – or want advice on how it can inform your postgraduate marketing and recruitment right now.

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