ALTERNATIVE ways of funding university – including student loans – have been examined by the Education Minister as families borrow money, remortgage homes and draw on pensions to cover costs.

Deputy Catherine Curtis told the Children, Education & Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel that she was open to rethinking the system, while preparing increases to income thresholds to address missed adjustments.

“I wouldn’t mind starting all over again with the whole student finance thing, to be honest,” she said during a hearing on the proposed Budget 2027–2030.

Her comments come days after the Jersey Student Loan Support Group warned that families are taking on extra work, borrowing money and drawing on pensions to bridge university funding gaps.

The group reported that 46.7% of respondents to its ongoing higher-education funding survey had taken on extra work to cover shortfalls.

Almost a third – 32.7% – had borrowed money or remortgaged their homes, while 26.2% were drawing on pensions.

Jersey currently provides means-tested grants for tuition fees and living costs, rather than a public student-loan scheme.

During the Scrutiny hearing yesterday, Deputy Curtis said she had requested figures showing how student finance could operate differently – including using loans for some costs.

“We’ve been looking at these sort of possibilities. It does seem to require a lot more expense to do anything slightly differently than what we’re already doing,” she said.

The minister also cautioned that replacing grants with borrowing could create problems of its own.

“There’s no easy solution because if you change certain things to loans, it then becomes a burden for the young people when they finish studying,” she explained.

“The likelihood of it getting paid back is not particularly high, but all these things are under consideration.”

Deputy Curtis said her immediate focus was improving the existing system, including addressing thresholds which had not increased when they should have.

She said an announcement was expected soon and that a missed year of threshold increases was being addressed. Maintenance grants are currently increased using the UK Consumer Prices Index, she added.

The Jersey Student Loan Support Group welcomed recognition of the need for annual adjustments, but argued that increases would not repair accumulated shortfalls.

It called for higher income thresholds, relief for parents supporting more than one child at university simultaneously, and a review of travel and other allowances.

The group also highlighted extra accommodation and travel costs during compulsory placements for students training in teaching, social work and allied health professions.

The Education Minister confirmed she had read the report, but noted: “It doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a better way to do it.”

She added: “We’re looking at different possibilities. But right now, it’s more about trying to improve the structure we have currently at the moment.”

During the hearing, officials also said work was well advanced on smaller changes to address inequalities, including eligibility for the clinical component grant. They hoped these could be accommodated within the proposed Budget.

Deputy Curtis also said her department was investigating if a fall in higher education student numbers was indicative of any access barriers.

“The numbers are lower now than they were a few years ago for people actually accessing higher education,” she said.

“We want to look and see if there are any trends or if it’s just coincidence. Along with that, we will look at if there are any particular barriers to people accessing higher education.”