George Osborne's announcement that maintenance grants for some for the country's poorest university students would be cut and replaced with loans brought shock and outrage last July.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, Mary Gregory says when her daughter started university, her husband had been unable to work for some time because of illness and she was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia.
"I was only given a short time to live. There is no way my daughter could have gone had it not been for the grant she received. She has now worked for some 15 years in HR and paid back in tax far more than she received as a grant. This would have been a totally different story without a grant.
"Our son was able to follow his sister and is now also in a good job in a position of responsibility. Win, win for the grant system.
"To have relied on loans alone neither would have been where they are now."
Nathan Coyle wondered whether Britain's young people were "the new immigrants", while Osborne himself insisted: "It is fair to students. Fair to taxpayers. And vital to secure our long term economic future."
The announcement is already making potential university students think twice, and we asked those who had already been through the system with the support of maintenance grants, how they would have coped without.
Six People Who Couldn't Have Gone To University Without Maintenance Grants
'I owe everything I am, the life I have now, to state support ' - Beverley Clack(01 of06)
Open Image ModalI want to university in the 1980s from a working class home (my dad was an unskilled man who worked for the blanket mills in Witney, now Cameron’s constituency, and my mum was a secretary).
I was the first person in my family to go to university. I would not have done that without grants (both at undergrad and postgrad level) as I would have been terrified by the idea of that kind of debt. I doubt attitudes have changed that much - why saddle yourself with £60K + of debt when you could save for a mortgage or at least enjoy your life?
I am horrified at the final scrapping of grants. I think that people from backgrounds like mine will not be able to achieve their potential.
I am now a professor in philosophy of religion at Oxford Brookes University and have taught for the last 25 years in HE.
I despair at what this country is becoming and for all those who won’t be able to realise their dreams. I owe everything I am, the life I have now, to state support and I am so angry that the clock is being turned back to the 19th century by a government who have no idea about how working people live. (credit:Oxford Brookes)
'If it wasn't for the extra funding, I wouldn't have been able to go.' - Will (02 of06)
Open Image ModalI was kicked out of home at 16 due to my sexuality and ended up with pretty average grades due to going a bit off the rails.
When I left college in 2008 at the start of the recession I thought I wouldn't be able to go to uni due to my grades, but most importantly due to lack of cash so I managed to get a (crap) full time job instead.
Two years later I decided to give it a go. I was accepted onto a course at Liverpool John Moores University and was eligible for all the grants. I also had to work full time alongside my degree to keep afloat, but it was worth it - I left uni in 2013 with a 1st class honours degree in History and moved to London to start my career in policy.
If it wasn't for the extra funding I wouldn't have been able to go. I now have around £20000 of debt which I think is ridiculous but manageable.
If I had to go to university today not only would I have to pay £9k tuition fees, but with the addition of the grants becoming loans it would seriously put me off going to university - I would leave with around £46,500 worth of debt, which quite frankly is appalling from someone of my background.
I don't understand how people from less privileged backgrounds, like myself, would ever manage to compete with those that can afford to go to university with help from well-off parent.
'I don't know what I would have done without my maintenance grants' - Emma Chorley(03 of06)
Open Image ModalI went to University in 2009, I come from a divorced home where my mum's income is way below the national average despite her working full time.
Aside from the monumental mess Student Finance made of my loans in general, I don't know what I would have done without my maintenance grants, they were generous and essential to the huge amount of students who aren't able to call their parents to tap them up for money when they've run out.
I worked throughout the entirety of my 4 years at university but the fact of the matter is that every little helps. While Osborne isn't scrapping the grants, students won't go without but it just adds even more debt to an already excessive figure. (credit:Emma Chorley)
'The maintenance grant is a sense of relief, a helping hand' - Rabah Kherbane(04 of06)
Open Image ModalI graduate this week with a first class honours in Law, in the top of my year.
University is the time you start growing up. You become more self-aware of yourself, and your future. This, of course, includes financial circumstances.
That is why the maintenance grant is so important. At a time when stress, worries, and academics are sure to be a source of pressure, the maintenance grant is an unequivocal source of relief- a helping hand.
Instead of being a worry at the back of your mind, like the tuition fee loan or maintenance loan, it acts as a counterweight to both. The psychological relief that provides is indescribable. And to do well in higher education, a student needs all the relief and focus they can get.
This is in addition to the financial support it provides, in terms of travel, study materials, and accommodation. Cutting off the maintenance grant will have unfortunate financial implications for disadvantaged students, but the psychological impact will be far worse.
I wouldn't have gone without my grants - Jasmine Welsh(05 of06)
Open Image ModalDuring the time I was thinking about applying for University, my parents separated. This meant things were very up in the air and money was tight.
I probably would not have gone to University without my grants. I'm not comfortable with having the idea of such a looming debt over my head now, let alone all that extra money.
I feel we should be supporting people in higher education, not starting off their career with a huge debt. I work 2 part time jobs, which I am paid £5.15 an hour, this makes it much harder. We have this money that's not ours, a loan that we pay back, but it's almost impossible to earn our own money due to 0 hour contracts and low minimum wages for us! (credit:Jasmine Welsh)
My sister won't be so lucky - Elinor, Cambridge student(06 of06)
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