17 November 2006

Student statistics and profile

Article by Luke Mitchell

Students have been chased and feted since the mid-Nineties when they emerged as having real commercial value. In the UK in 2005 students contribute over £13 billion to the economy, according to NUSSL (NUS Services Ltd).

Although there are nearly five million students in all (including part-timers), it's the 1.8 million in higher education that are of significant fiscal interest. These are students mainly aged 18-24 (90%), mainly living away from home (87%) and mainly from ABC1 backgrounds (70%).

While the scrapping of grants and introduction of tuition fees in 1997 may have cut student income and forced many to get part-time jobs (47%), the chance to borrow relatively large sums of cash changed the old scenario. Once a student scrimped and improvised to make a grant cheque last until the summer; nowadays there is no budget - they can borrow almost as much as they decide they need.

A typical student today will claim their full entitlement of the Government-endorsed Student Loan before considering overdrafts, credit cards, personal loans and university hardship funds. And many will also receive regular cash installments from their parents. On average they exceed their total income by £4,000 a year and finish university with over £10,000 of debt.

A recent Guardian Weekend feature examined how student attitudes have changed. It portrayed students as materialistic, status-conscious and highly careerist. And it reported a widespread change of attitude towards debt.

Debt is now seen as inevitable and, since state funding disappeared, its stigma has dissolved. The catalysts that create larger debt are high expectations of post-graduation earnings (on average they expect a starting salary of £25,000) and the ongoing parental mantra: 'student years - best of your life'.

Today's student lives now and pays later.

But those who like to romanticise will be inspired by some enduring student characteristics, those related with social rather than financial circumstance. Students haven't changed in all respects. They are still rebellious, innovative, idealistic, reactive, smart, subversive, experimental and adventurous. They are a vibrant, creative and challenging audience.

Modern marketing theory values early exposure to ideas and options. Students, who are making all sorts of choices for the first time in their lives, represent an attentive, unadulterated target for information. Many of the decisions they make will stick with them through their lives. It's not just pound signs that attract businesses to the student market - and it's not just businesses that are interested in students. Whether it is environmentalists selling the idea of green electricity, government agencies promoting healthy eating or newspapers seeking new readers, students are a good audience. They are open-minded.

Contrary to widespread opinion, students are not a hard audience to find. They ostensibly live on campus - even those that don't sleep there will spend most of their time in and around the university grounds, drinking, eating, studying, taking part in activities, working, washing clothes, on the internet etc (all students have free access to the web; 20% have bought online in the last six months). At the metropolitan universities of Leeds and Manchester there may be less attachment to campus, but at others like Warwick and Keele there is no need to leave it. And few do.

When students leave campus it is usually to seek entertainment (29% of student spending) or to travel (71% travel at least once a year). They watch more films than most other groups (92% go to the cinema at least once a month) see more bands (79% go to a gig at least once a month) and spend more time in clubs (46% go clubbing at least once a week). Hardship counsellors at universities regularly receive loan requests from students who admit spending over £100 a week on entertainment.

Copyright Reach Students

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