More support for York St John Uni students struggling with rising costs
There is concern some undergrads are being priced out of higher education
There's concern more young people are giving up their dream of going to University because of soaring costs.
New research suggests as many as half of 18 to 19 years old are reconsidering the move. because of the cost of living crisis.
Rob Hickey is the chief operating officer at York St John University and says they are doing everything possible to make sure no one is priced out: "We've trebled the level of investment in our hardship fund, we've created a foodbank on site called the York St John larder and we've subsidised the cost of catering on site, so last year we reduced the cost of a hot lunch on site to £3."
"We've had long queues to use the larder"
He says the food larder proved a vital resource last year: "It was really popular, it's probably a little bit depressing how popular it was, because it just shows the financial hardship everyone has been facing, but yes we've had long queues to use the larder but also I think students genuinely appreciated the support that it gave them."
"We're also seeing students work more, so about two thirds of our students work as well as student at the same time, in part time jobs and that's up from about 60% two years ago and the average time students work has also gone up."
He says despite students feeling the squeeze it's really important that everyone that wants to can study at University: "Maybe they are the first in their family to do so, maybe it's not been on their radar till the get to 16 or 17 and they are thinking about what they want to do next, but it's something that can be really transformational for everyone."