Moritz-Heyman Scholarships press pack 2: Moritz-Heyman Scholarship programme overview
11 July 2012
Moritz-Heyman Scholarships are available from October 2012, the start of the new national higher education fees and funding regime. Students currently holding Oxford offers whose household income is under £16,000 are eligible. |
The number of Oxford's UK students with household incomes under £16,000 across all year groups is currently just under a thousand (about one in ten). That means that in any incoming year group there are usually roughly 280 such students (one third of them on four-year courses, the rest on three-year courses).
In 2012-13, 100 such students will be supported by a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship. The number of these, or similar scholarships from the 'challenge funding', is expected to increase every year until all relevant students are covered. Any UK students in this income group not getting a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship in 2012/13 will still receive the University's extremely generous new standard support package. |
Over the course of three Moritz-Heyman donations, and if the funding challenge is met in full, an annual intake of up to 300 such students will be supported by a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship or similar equivalent scholarship from the 'challenge funding' – not only covering all UK students at Oxford with household incomes under £16,000 based on current numbers, but leaving room for the growth in that group that it is hoped will result from Oxford's access work and the attractions of this programme.
What a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship provides
1) Financial support
Both a bursary and a fee waiver, totalling £11,000 a year:
- A £5,500 per year bursary, which together with the annual government non-repayable grant of £3,250 completely covers all living costs throughout the course. [For explanation of how living costs are calculated, see footnote 1 below]
- A £5,500 fee waiver, which brings the fee level down to just £3,500 per year – about the same as it was prior to the new national funding system for 2012/13.
This means that:
- Neither the students nor their families will need to find money for any upfront costs at all, or even take out any loans for living costs.
- The only debt the students need take on would be the £3,500 effective fee per year, which is the same as prior to the new national higher education fees and funding regime. (No fee needs to be paid upfront: it is covered by a government-backed loan, repayable only after graduation, only once earning over £21,000, and in line with earnings through the tax system.)
The financial element of the package amounts to £33,000 over three years (compared with the new standard Oxford provision of £22,400 over three years, already very generous) or £44,000 over four years (compared with the new standard Oxford provision of £28,700 over four years).
2) Internship opportunities
Moritz-Heyman Scholars will have access to outstanding internship opportunities in both the public and private sector at an appropriate point in their degree course (probably the long summer vacation).
The programme’s key aim is to improve social mobility. Students from low-income households might not ordinarily consider pursuing major internships, or have the opportunity to undertake them – with knock-on consequences for their later careers.
By providing dedicated support within the University’s careers service, the programme will ensure that all Moritz-Heyman Scholars can undertake a significant internship.
The University’s careers service has already developed the expertise and proven systems for placing students on highly regarded internship programmes. Additional support will be made available to the careers service to enable it to build a dedicated scheme for Moritz-Heyman Scholars.
3) The chance to encourage future Oxford students
Moritz-Heyman Scholars will be asked to encourage the next generation of Oxford students from under-represented groups.
This voluntary work may involve visits back to their own schools or others in their neighbourhood; taking part in admissions fairs; or mentoring school pupils.
This outreach will complement the very extensive existing access work Oxford undertakes.
Selection for a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship
The basic eligibility requirement is a household income of under £16,000.
If in any given year there are more of these students than there are Moritz-Heyman Scholarships, priority will be given to those with access 'flags' that represent the Universitys considered views on how best to measure and identify social, economic and educational disadvantage. These closely shadow measures set out in the University’s Access Agreement with OFFA.
- Coming from deprived postcode areas (ACORN postcodes 4 and 5, i.e. the least advantaged areas in the UK)
- Coming from postcode areas with low participation in higher education (POLAR 2 quintiles 1 and 2, the postcode areas with the lowest rates of progression to higher education, representing the 40% of school leavers least likely to progress to higher education)
- Coming from a school that performs below the national average at GCSE
- Coming from a school that performs below the national average at A-level
- Being in care [not part of Oxford’s Access Agreement targets, but a disadvantaged group that Oxford has already identified for particular support and encouragement]
In addition, priority will be given to those studying STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, maths).
The order of prioritisation will work as follows: (i) Being in or having recently been in care (this measure trumps all the others); (ii) four of the other flags plus STEM; (iii) four of the other flags; (iv) three of the other flags plus STEM; (v) three of the other flags; (vi) two of the other flags plus STEM; (vii) two of the other flags; etc.
Students do not have to put in applications for the scholarships or take any action: the University receives all the relevant data anyway from the Student Loans Company and Department for Education, so consideration is automatic.
However, they must give their agreement before being finally confirmed as a Moritz-Heyman Scholar, since the programme involves certain commitments on their part, ie the voluntary access activity and internships.
| Note that selection for a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship takes place AFTER the overall Oxford admission process. Eligibility for a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship will play no part in the admissions process – indeed, data about household income is not even known at that stage. |
| Note that all incoming UK students with household incomes under £16,000 will automatically receive generous financial support at Oxford: even if they do not get a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship, they will still get the University’s new standard support package, which is already the most generous in the country. Eventually, all such students should be covered by a Moritz-Heyman Scholarship (or a similar scholarship from the 'challenge funding') as the pool of money available for the programme rises. |
How are these scholarships funded?
The programme is founded on a £75m commitment from alumnus Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman, the biggest donation for undergraduate support in European history.
That donation will, with £75m matched funding from the University and £150m 'challenge funding' from other donors, generate an unprecedented £300million to support undergraduates from lower-income backgrounds.
The total Moritz-Heyman gift of £75m to Oxford will be made in three tranches of £25m. Each £25m will be matched by the equivalent of investment returns from £25m of the University’s own endowment (the 'match funding'), making £50m in total.
Then there will be a challenge to the collegiate University and its supporters to match that £50m through further philanthropy (the 'challenge funding') – making £100m in ring-fenced support for lower-income undergraduates.
Only when the initial £25m Moritz-Heyman donation has led to a full £100m for student support will the next £25m be given. This process will happen three times over, generating an ultimate £300m for undergraduate support, comprising £75m from Moritz and Heyman (for Moritz-Heyman Scholarships); the equivalent of the returns on £75m of the University's own endowment (for Moritz-Heyman Scholarships); and £150m from other alumni and donors meeting the funding challenge (for similar scholarships but bearing different names).
Footnote 1
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