Screw Hugh’s

The news that St Hugh’s was being taken to court for refusing an applicant who could not demonstrate he had enough cash to stay the course raised some ugly questions about Oxford.  Chris Pike gives his answer.

I do not think tests on postgraduates’ ability to fund themselves through their course are a bad thing. Much as I’d like to stay at university long after it’s socially acceptable, borrowing money I’m never going to repay from the good people at Student Finance England, this just isn’t how it works: the powers that be have clearly decided that postgraduate study doesn’t matter enough to give the students doing it any money, for anything, ever.

…Cheers Student Finance England

So St Hugh’s really didn’t have much of a choice when asking Damien Shannon for confirmation that he won’t be passing his time at Oxford living in a cardboard box. But really, Hugh’s: £12 900 per year?!

I know postgrads have higher costs than us mere mortals, thanks in no small part to our still being young enough to leech off our parents for half the year, but unless upon reaching the age of twenty-two everyone develops a newfound craving for Waitrose and Bollinger having got through the entirety of their first degree on Tesco and Jägerbombs (or if you’re really skint, the fluorescent shots that look like Sourz but do not taste like them), I fail to see how thirteen grand to read books for a year is entirely fair.

Not to mention that Hugh’s is so far from anywhere that you could afford a mansion with pool for the same price as my Cowley terrace, so unless he intends to shop at the local farmers’ market (I’m sure there’s one nearby), accommodation costs aren’t going to need £7 250 a year.

Hugh’s fat cats…

This is demonstrated quite well by the fact that he’s, you know, already sorted out a tenancy agreement several grand cheaper than this. What’s more, it’s practically part of student life to struggle financially; it would be a limited experience without it. I’ve got to the point of believing I’m incredibly frugal and well-behaved just because I haven’t gone into my interest-free overdraft yet.

So good on poor Damien for putting Hugh’s in their place. Preventing a talented student from succeeding at one of the best universities in the world, just because the bursar presumably has a very different idea of ‘essential costs’ to us proles, is not on.

Now maybe Hugh’s can give up a little of their £20 million endowment, to help a student do what we students do best: manage to do a full academic qualification and lead a semi-independent life on annual incomes which many of our students will go on to earn in a week.

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