Employer support for part-time study in higher education

• Summary
• The importance of part-time delivery
• UUK research
• Employer support for tuition fees
• Who are more likely to receive fees support from employers?
• Other forms of employer support
• Employers' attitudes to part-time study
• The importance of employer support and engagement
• Footnotes
• References

Summary

Recent research suggests that employer support for part-time study in higher education varies widely with qualification aim and subject areas, writes Pearl Mok of the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU). Men are more likely than women to be beneficiaries of employer financial support, because they are more likely to be working full-time. However, there are currently large discrepancies in the data regarding employer support of tuition fees for part-time study, and more research in this area is being called for.

Employers generally have a very positive view about part-time study. However, it is revealed that many employers do not fully recognise the benefits that part-time study can bring to their organisation, eg in plugging skills gaps. As part-time study is seen as pivotal in upskilling the workforce, there needs to be more effective collaboration between the higher education sector and employers.

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The importance of part-time delivery

Part-time higher education (HE) has played a significant role in the expansion of HE in recent years, and in meeting government objectives such as the extension of higher-level skills, widening participation and lifelong learning, says new research from Universities UK [1]. There were just over 837,000 part-time HE students in the UK in 2003/04, representing approximately 40% of all HE students. In addition, between 1997/98 and 2003/04, the growth in part-time students was more than three times greater than that for full-time [1].

It is anticipated that part-time study will become more important in years to come. The final report of the Leitch Review of Skills, published in December 2006, recommends raising the proportion of adults qualified to Level 4 (ie degree-level) or above, from 29% in 2005, to over 40% in 2020, along ‘with a commitment to continue progression’ [2]. This, however, is unlikely to be achieved by simply expanding the traditional mode of HE.

According to the Review, the current 50% HE participation target for 18-30 year olds, which has stalled at around 42% in recent years, tends to prioritise full-time first degrees and traditional undergraduate study, ahead of part-time opportunities for employees. In order to achieve the 40% target, Leitch calls for the expansion of ‘flexible and responsive provision’, increased employer engagement and investment in HE, particularly in the form of workforce development (e.g. foundation degrees). In other words, part-time study is going to play a crucial part in upskilling the current and future workforce, including continuing professional development.

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UUK research

Universities UK has recently commissioned three studies on part-time students and part-time study in HE in the UK [1], [3], [4], [5]:

• Strand 1 - quantitative analysis of data, mainly from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), to set out, as far as possible, factual information about students studying part-time [3].
• Strand 2 - a survey of a sample of 26 HE institutions across England, Wales and Scotland, including the Open University, to examine the issues regarding part-time provision [4].
• Strand 3 - a survey of students’ attitudes and experiences of part-time study and its costs, based on responses from 2,654 undergraduate students from 25 HE institutions [5].

Parts of the remit of the research were to look at part-time student fees issues and current level of employer support. Owing to the importance of the employers’ role in the future of HE, this article will take a look at findings from the research about employer support.

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Employer support for tuition fees

According to the UUK studies, there are several sources of data regarding the level of employer support for part-time students in HE, but there are wide discrepancies between these sources and they are ‘difficult to reconcile’. We shall, therefore, look at these separately in turn.

Analysis of the 2002/03 Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey data for the Strand 1 research indicated that, as expected, the vast majority of part-time students were employed during their course, and that, generally, employment increased up to middle age and declined over the age of 50. For example, 95% of part-time qualifiers in 2002/03 aged 30-39 were employed during their course, compared with 46% of those aged 60 and over.

Part-time students, who followed certain qualification aims, were asked of their perception of employer support for their study in the DLHE survey (see footnote a). The results are shown in Table 1. HNC and postgraduate diplomas/certificates students were particularly likely to have their fees paid by their employer.

There is, however, a second source of data: the HESA student records. Analysing the 2003/04 set of student record, Strand 1 of the research reported that 60% of the total of all part-time students in HE received no financial support towards fees for their studies, and another 6% either paid no fees or had their fees waived. Of those students who did receive support, the largest category was those who received support from their employer - 15% of all part-time students. A further 7% received support from the Department of Health/NHS ‘which may be assumed to be the employer in many or most instances’. The record also indicates that there were major contributions towards tuition fees from other government departments and UK industry and commerce, and if these sources were included, some 25% of all part-time students received employer support for fees.

Table 2 shows the breakdown of employer support for fees by qualification aim, reported in the HESA student records. Again, the data reveals that students on HNC courses were the most likely to receive employer support for fees. This was followed by those studying for a postgraduate diploma or certificate, foundation degree, and postgraduate professional qualification. On the other hand, few students studying for a certificate of HE, research doctorate or institutional undergraduate credit received fees support from their employer.

Comparison of the figures in Table 1 and 2 reveals that there are considerable discrepancies between the two sources. According to the Strand 1 report, this is due to the fact that the student record data is supplied by the institution for all students and is based upon its own knowledge of the student fee arrangements. On the other hand, the DLHE destinations data is provided by the students at the end of their study, who may not have told the institution about their financial arrangements.

These discrepancies are also noted in Strands 2 and 3 of the UUK research. For those institutions in the Strand 2 study that were able to supply data on this issue, the proportion of students having their fees paid directly by employers ranged from under 5% to over 35%. This, in turn, was very different from the figures reported in the survey of students carried out for the Strand 3 part of the study, which found that some 35% of part-time students reported having some or all of their tuition fees paid by their employer (see footnote b).

These discrepancies parallel those reported in the Strand 1 research. It was reported that a significant proportion of students supported by their employer would pay the fee themselves and then claim it back from their employer [4]. These students were recorded by institutions as self-payers, which helps to explain the lower figures from institutional records and the higher figures submitted by students themselves. Additionally, figures from the HESA student records (reported in the Strand 1 report) and survey of institutions (Strand 2) were measured as a proportion of all part-time students within a particular category. In contrast, figures from the DLHE and the Strand 3 surveys were restricted to those who were sampled for the study in the first place (as in the case of the Strand 3 study) and who have chosen to respond. This contributed to the discrepancies between the institutional figures and those declared by the students themselves.

According to the Strand 2 report, as the question of employer support for tuition fees is of great importance to developing policies for public support for part-time study, further detailed research should be carried out to reconcile the differences in different studies.

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Who are more likely to receive fees support from employers?

Apart from those following HNC or postgraduate diploma/certificate programmes, Strand 1 of the research reported that students studying more vocationally oriented subjects, notably engineering and technology, architecture and business studies were more likely to have employers as their major source of fees. There are, however, wide variations with qualifications. For example, 46% of part-time students studying ‘other undergraduate’ programmes in engineering and technology received employer support, compared with 19% of those in postgraduate taught courses and 9% of students in postgraduate research programmes. Among foundation degree students, 31% of engineering and technology students received employer support, followed by social studies (28%) and education (25%).

In addition, Strands 2 and 3 of the research reported that students were more likely to have their tuition fees paid by their employer if they were:

• in public sector employment (eg those who attended nursing, midwifery, or social care courses) [4];
• working full-time: 45% of full-time employees in the Strand 3 survey received support for fees from their employer compared with 17% of part-timers [5].

As men were more likely than women to work full-time, they were more likely to be beneficiaries of employer financial support [5]. Interestingly, however, when women worked full-time, they were more likely than their male peers to receive help with tuition fees support from their employer (48% compared with 42%) but less likely when they worked part-time (8% compared with 19%) [5].

The Strand 3 report also revealed that undergraduate students with personal annual incomes between £20,000 and £24,999 were the most likely to receive employer fees support. There was, however, a ‘linear relationship’ between receiving tuition fee help from an employer and household income: students with annual household incomes of between £35,000 and £49,000 were found to be three-and-half times more likely to be financed by their employer than students with household incomes of £15,499 or less (49% compared with 14%). The wealthiest students thus benefited the most from employer support (see footnote b).

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Other forms of employer support

In addition to support for tuition fees, the DLHE data analysed for the Strand 1 research revealed that study leave was received by almost half of students following HNCs (44%), foundation degrees (42%), postgraduate certificates and diplomas (41%) and taught masters (39%) courses. On the other hand, the provision of grants was very low (0%-4%) across all qualifications.

Similarly, the survey of undergraduate students carried out for the Strand 3 study revealed that 35% of working students were given paid time off work in order to study. Full-time employees were more likely than their part-time counterparts to be given this type of support (40% compared with 16% respectively). In addition, 16% of working students were given unpaid time off work in order to study.

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Employers' attitudes to part-time study

London Higher has recently commissioned a survey gauging the experiences, perceptions and attitudes of London employers to part-time study; a total of 385 non-government employers in the capital were interviewed (see footnote c) [6] , Although the study was restricted to the London region, much of the findings would also be of interest to employers in other regions.

The study found that employers generally have a very positive view about part-time study. Three-quarters (76.9%) of employers believe that both employers and employees are beneficiaries of an employee undertaking part-time study, although a significant minority (15.8%) reported that employees benefit the most.

The report, however, reveals that many employers do not fully recognise the benefits that part-time study can bring to their organisation, eg in plugging skills gaps. In addition, only 53% of the firms surveyed have a policy to support part-time study; in some cases, this is informal and support was judged on a case by case basis. Employers are also reported to be poorly informed about the availability of part-time courses and are largely unaware of the subsidies currently made available by the government for part-time training.

Unsurprisingly, the financial cost is a key factor influencing employer support for part-time study: nearly a third of employers surveyed (30.3%) suggested that increased government subsidies for part-time study would make them more likely to encourage part-time study amongst their employees. Over two-thirds (70%) of employers also believe that part-time study should lead to a recognised qualification.

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The importance of employer support and engagement

According to Strand 2 of the UUK study, the increasing requirements of the workplace, the level of fees and the lack of support from employers are all factors that could inhibit the demand for part-time study. Some of the institutions surveyed also reported that being dependent on a very small number of employers, particular part-time programmes might become unsustainable if the companies relocate or change their staff development requirement.

In a recent strategy paper on engaging employers with HE, the Higher Education Funding Council in England (HEFCE) identified three types of employers’ provision [7]:

• employer-designed (eg in foundation degrees);
• employer-funded (usually through support for student fees);
• employer-delivered (in the workplace).

Employer engagement with HE is seen as crucial to the delivery of higher level skills required in the economy. However, one of the barriers in engaging employers, identified in the HEFCE report, is that the role of HE in improving productivity is not sufficiently promoted in policy discussions, and is poorly understood by employers and employees. Amongst other challenges, another barrier is that outside certain disciplines, the workplace is not yet widely valued as a place of HE-level learning.

In November 2006, HEFCE announced the funding of three higher level skills pathfinder projects, to be launched in the North East, North West and the South West [8]. The pathfinders will seek to extend Train to Gain, the skills brokerage service, to include high level skills from foundation degrees through to PhDs. Under the HEFCE skills packages for employers, there will also be [9]:

• Clearer presentation of the costs of HE programmes to help employers source courses.
• More undergraduate and postgraduate courses that are relevant to employers’ current needs, and more student placements and consultancy.
• More universities and colleges offering opportunities for workforce developments, including work-based learning and flexible delivery at the workplace.

In conclusion, part-time study is seen as pivotal in meeting government objectives, particularly in upskilling the workforce, and there needs to be more effective collaboration between the HE sector and employers ‘to maximise the benefits for learners, employers, employees, the economy and society’ [9].

Footnotes

a) Qualifiers from undergraduate professional courses, undergraduate diplomas and certificates and institutional credits were not surveyed.

b) It is important to note that students surveyed for the Strand 3 study were not representative of all part-time undergraduates in the UK. First degree students were also over-represented in the survey.

c) Government employers were excluded from the study because of ‘their specialised and often highly developed attitude to part-time study’.

References

1. Policy Briefing: Part-time Students in HE - supporting higher-level skills and lifelong learning, Universities UK, November 2006. This is a summary of the reports in references 3 to 5 below.

2. Prosperity for all in the global economy world class skills, Leith Review of Skills final report, Sandy Leitch, December 2006.

3. Part-time students and part-time study in HE in the UK - Strand 1: a quantitative data analysis of 2003/04 HESA data, a report for Universities UK and GuildHE by Professor Brian Ramsden, Nigel Brown Associates.

4. Part-time students and part-time study in HE in the UK - Strand 2: a survey of the issues facing institutions, by Susan Boorman, Nigel Brown, Philip Payne and Brian Ramsden.

5. Part-time students and part-time study in HE in the UK - Strand 3: a survey of students’ attitudes and experiences of part-time study and its costs 2005/06, by Professor Claire Callender, David Wilkinson, and Karen Mackinon.

6. Attitudes to part-time study: the perspective of London employers, prepared for London Higher by FreshMinds, February 2006.

7. HEFCE strategy to support links between HE and employers on skills and lifelong learning.

8. HEFCE invests £12 million in developing tailored higher level skills packages for employers, HEFCE News, 15 November 2006.

9. HEFCE's strategy: what's in it for employers?

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