Scholarships - international students vs home students

[ShinedLikeHi]

After reading a post on here a few days ago about a Ukrainian refugee who was getting full scholarship for uni that piqued my interest I went down a rabbit hole.
It seems scholarships are more readily available for people with Refugee status who would I believe be entitled to student loans just as much as a home student. These scholarships over include full fee waiver and living costs bursary which either matches or surpasses the full maintenance's loan amount.
This got me thinking, my niece will finish uni with loads of debt, there aren't many scholarships available to UK students and as far as I can tell none that include full fee waiver.
Why are refugees with the same access to student funding able to access scholarships like this while home students can't? How is that fair.

AIBU to think it's unfair that refugees with basically finish uni debt free while home students can't?

You know whats actually unfair? Being a refugee.

@Simonjt

Well obviously.
But surely universities should be supporting home students too!

I don't know about refugees and scholarships availability in the UK.
I am aware that a lot of students can access scholarships and bursaries based on merit (as opposed to income, although that's probably also available) if they apply to study abroad. For ex. a British student going to study in the USA or a German student going to study in the UK.
It doesn't always cover all expenses but it's there.

That line of thinking sounds very familiar…

As a UK student your niece has advantages the refugee will never have.

I used to work with young refugees (unaccompanied children). The odds are stacked so incredibly heavily against them, it is a huge achievement for them to get to university.

It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that some people could be small-minded enough to resent the few bits of extra support that is available to these kids. Just be thankful that you and your loved ones have not been forced by circumstances to uproot yourselves and give up everything you have ever known to start all over again in an alien environment. It is really not something to envy.

First response nails it!

I work with young people in care who also get additional support at university - you wouldn't belive how many times I have heard the 'it's not fair' claim.

I’m a care leaver, as a uni student I had both students and adults moan that people who are LAC received additional support. They’re the same as people who moan about DLA existing, they’re just incredibly entitled and feel they’re the most deserving person on the planet.

Surely there is a big difference between an unaccompanied minor and an adult/YA that comes here from elsewhere?
I don't think they are comparable.

Did your niece have to move to a foreign country in fear of her life?

Did she have to leave behind family members, pets, belongings?

Is part of her country - possibly including her home town - currently occupied by a foreign power or has it been flattened by bombardment by that same foreign power?

Did she have to learn a whole new language to finish her education?

I suppose number of such places is very limited.

If the refugee target group was scrapped and the places were transferred to local children, it would be an equivalent of the national lottery. Practically noone would benefit from that.

Have you noticed that international students generally pay significantly more in fees than home students?
You can see it as a discount from full commercial price aimed to support local students.

There is a difference between an adult and a child, yes. There is also a difference between arriving as a child refugee with refugee parents and arriving unaccompanied. But the one common thread here is that they are all refugees.

Do you actually know what being a refugee means?

UK universities simply don’t have the sort of scholarship system that is more common in the US. This is partly because they don’t have the culture of alumni donations that US universities do. Not having the college sport set up is another factor. But it is largely because UK universities are run as businesses. Scholarships for refugees, or talented students from developing countries, are pretty much them doing CSR. It’s not money they would otherwise spend on U.K. students, it’s money they would otherwise spend on the VC’s salary or a new building.

There are charities that will support various groups at university - care leavers, or children of veterans for example. Not sure if those covers fees or just some living cost support. Even elite athletes training and studying somewhere like Loughborough are still paying tuition fees I think.

But ultimately, you just don’t think forriners should get something yours don’t.

Refugees aren’t entitled to any student finance or to work, unless their case has been decided and they have been given indefinite leave to remain when they are. The scholarships you talk of are for those thousands who are waiting years for a home office decision and who in the meantime can’t work and are effectively barred from studying. HTH

Also international students pay for UK students to study. There aren’t caps on international fees so universities have to charge more to them to subsidise the UK students whose fees don’t cover the cost of their own education. If universities didn’t do this many would have already gone bankrupt. So discounts / scholarships for international students help attract more fee-paying international students who will subsidise your niece’s education.

Presumably your niece doesn't live in a war torn country and has all the advantages and benefits in having a secure and safe upbringing.

If your niece is clever she can apply for a scholarship along with everyone else.

Life isn't fair.

No, refugees can work and study. Asylum seekers can not. You are only a refugee once you have been given that status.
This funding is available to refugees, those under humanitarian protection and asylum seekers.

What a petty, small minded post.
International students also pay double what home students do and basically prop up universities.

Yabvvvvu and sre showing a total lack of awareness for what refugee status actually means.

If the UK became a war zone and society broke down to the point that your niece would be specifically targeted for some aspect of her genetics such that she had to flee to another country and ended up in Argentina for example, possibly unable to speak the language or with school-level basic vocabulary, and was granted refugee status, I hope you would agree that she should be supported to complete her education. She might be there with no family at all, or her parents may be there but not allowed to earn money due to their refugee status, or if granted leave to earn may only be able to take basic jobs as all their qualifications and experience are irrelevant in the new country. Without the support of the asylum-granting state your niece would have no chance of completing university education. The idea that she should be deprived of that opportunity along with everything else she has lost is sickeningly anti-humanitarian.

0.6% of the uk population are refugees. We can cope with supporting them to rebuild their lives.

Many of the scholarship schemes explicitly exclude applicants from students who are eligible for student finance. Most refugees can get student loans but there are circumstances in which they cannot. Do you really think that they should be prevented from continuing with their education for financial reasons? And what about those on humanitarian protection visas, and those who are still waiting for their claims to be processed? Are you saying that they shouldn't be allowed to study at all?

There are bursaries and hardship funds for those from low-income households who are liable for home fees (my friend at university got one as her mum died of cancer in her first year, leaving her an orphan), but honestly as you are not expected to pay university fees upfront, and many may never pay them back in full, they shouldn't be the difference between going to uni and getting a job.

There is an argument that debt-averse families will discourage their children from going at all.

Fucking hell. People with refugee status have, as a general rule, been through something we've only had to watch on the TV (or not even that). Perhaps just be generous in spirit, eh?

Oh this is so so small minded!!

We had 3 Ukrainian guests live with us, it was a mum, her daughter and the daughter's friend.
The friend was in her 2nd year of uni back home. She came here had to do a foundation year as while she had great conversational English it wasn't to an academic level. Then her 2 years at uni were wasted basically as she had to restart.
She got a scholarship, the scholarships for those who can access student funding didn't cover fees but living costs. Her living costs are higher than most uk students as she doesn't have a home to go to in the summer! Her home town was held under siege, war crimes were committed! Her whole family are displaced either internally or internationally. Two of her cousins were military reservists, one has sadly lost his life in the war.
I can't believe anyone would resent someone who has been through so much receiving some help!