The FINANCIAL — LSE is one of the biggest spenders on student outreach and bursaries, as a proportion of its undergraduate fee income, according to figures released on June 4.
The report for university access monitoring body, ‘The Office for Fair Access’ (OFFA) shows the outcomes of all English universities’ 2013-14 access agreements, including the proportion of fee income spent on bursaries and the proportion of UK undergraduates who receive a grant.
The report shows LSE spent nearly half of its additional income from undergraduate fees on outreach work and bursaries for low-income UK students in 2013-14, a total of £2.73 million. This is one of the highest proportional spends for any English university.
The report also shows over a third of all new students starting at LSE in 2013 received a full or a partial bursary from the School.
As OFFA does not monitor university spending on postgraduate, European or international students, LSE’s total investment on all access initiatives is, in fact, significantly higher than outlined in the report. In 2013-14 the School spent over £3.3million on outreach, bursaries and scholarships for all its undergraduate students and over £13.1 million for postgraduate students.
Simeon Underwood, Academic Registrar and Director of Academic, said:
“The School wants to recruit the best students regardless of their economic or social background, and to ensure they are able to thrive while studying here. This is why we invest in a range of outreach schemes, all of which seek to raise the aspirations and attainment of non-traditional students, and why we offer a generous package of bursaries.”
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