Cambridge has increased its central hardship funding by £500,000 to help students cope with the cost of living crisis, but often struggling students turn to their colleges for help first. Varsity interviewed students about their experiences with accessing financial help from five different colleges, and found that some claimed the process was “humiliating”.
“It’s not something I’m very comfortable with so I try to only ask when there are no other options”, one student told Varsity. “Only those suffering the most dare to reach out”, another student said.
Shame was a common theme among students interviewed – experiences vary, but many have found applying for college hardship funds invasive or overly bureaucratic.
Jesus College – Susan and Shannon
Jesus student Susan began to experience financial difficulties in second year. His maintenance loan — which had been reduced by £6,000 – was less than rent, but his parents were in debt, and unable to support him. He told Varsity that college were initially “a bit investigative” but eventually helped him apply for their hardship fund, and deferred his college bill, which they agreed he could pay off over the course of his degree.
However, Susan claims that last year, once the member of staff who he’d made the agreement with had left Jesus, he was told to “pay off the debt [he] had to the college at once”. This amount was over £2,500 on top of his college bill. He says he was told by the new staff member that his initial agreement “no longer holds” and he would have to pay within “a few days.” Susan then had to resort to applying for hardship directly from the University.
The experience “made things really difficult”. He told us: “It made me realise how the support was not really a system, it’s just person by person, worker by worker.”
Another undergraduate at Jesus, Shannon*, expressed other concerns to Varsity. Particularly, she claims that the cost of living outside of term time feels “largely unacknowledged”. Shannon’s parents need her to contribute towards household expenses and bills when living at home. When asking the college for support, she said she feels “ashamed to have to spell out exactly what my needs are”.
The process of applying for hardship is very off-putting, Shannon told Varsity. Applicants must “fill out a six page document” detailing “every source we may receive money from”.
Jesus’ Senior Tutor, Dr Paul Dominiak, told Varsity that the college “understand the impact of financial hardship and offer a range of support, working closely with students to support their financial needs appropriately.”
He continued: “We have a dedicated Financial Tutor to ensure consistency and support the application process, and we explain how to apply for funds on several intranet pages and in regular emails to all students. If anyone has any concerns about the process, I encourage them to contact me.”
Murray Edwards – Mia and Zara
Students at Murray Edwards have also had difficult experiences when trying to access hardship funding. Mia says she told her tutor that she needed support to buy groceries and other essentials in Easter 2022, and filled in the appropriate forms. Her request was approved, but the money was only received at the end of term, after “pestering”. Needing to cover debt from last academic year, she started Michaelmas 2022 with no savings, and increased rent; she’d been left with less than £100 to last all term.
Mia contacted college two days into term, and says she was forced to detail every single expense. She claims that Murray Edwards then “began to nitpick everything” and didn’t “recognise that my SFE dropped and rent rose”.
She continued: “The financial tutor told me it would be ‘economical’ to change lease from a 29 to 36 week one to save money, even though it was more expensive – I didn’t choose a longer lease in the first place because I couldn’t afford it”.
Mia was told to apply to a separate fund for medical taxis and get re-evaluated by student finance, and says it felt like college “were trying to find a way to blame me, or to redirect me to anywhere else”. Eventually, when she forwarded her emails to tutorial, Mia was told that she could pay rent late, something which had never been given as a possibility before.
Zara told Varsity that the Murray Edwards finance tutor suggested she use her overdraft to fund her living expenses, and that they expect students to be their parents’ financial responsibility during the breaks. When applying for hardship funding, Zara says the college asked her “very personal questions” about her family relationships, seemingly unrelated to her financial needs. She described the process as “undignified” and “humiliating”, saying that “sometimes it feels like you’re being told off”.
A spokesperson from Murray Edwards told Varsity: “As an educational charity we are obliged to exercise proper oversight of the use and disbursement of charitable funds”, saying they ask students for “reasonable information” to assess hardship, and that staff support during the application process.
They continued: “We do not ask for expenditure breakdowns if the Full Term expenditure is less than a minimum termly income level” and went on to explain their application processes in more detail.
Gonville & Caius – Cleo
Students at other colleges have had more positive experiences with accessing hardship at a college level.
Cleo, a student at Caius, told us that she needed money to stay in College over the break — she didn’t receive money from her parents and her home situation made it impossible for her to stay there at the time. All she had to do was fill in a form and her tutor handled everything else, speaking on her behalf in a meeting.
She said that she appreciated not having to give a sob story to “convince anyone [she] was deserving of the money”, and her tutor “was able to negotiate a 75% reduction (the full 100% was reserved for full bursary holders)”. She never had to speak to anyone but her tutor.
Other students at Caius have also had similarly positive experiences with rent reduction for personal issues but some have found, when applying for help purely on a basis of financial reasons, that there are “many more hoops to jump through”.
Caius Senior Tutor Dr Andrew Spencer said: “We endeavour to support all Caius students in hardship and treat all applications on their individual merits. As a charity we have a duty to ensure funds are shared responsibly and sometimes that involves a form of financial disclosure.”
He continued: “We hope the majority of students are happy with the support we provide and the ways to seek support” and encouraged “anyone who is not content” to bring their concerns to him or their tutor.
Fitz – Amy
In other positive experiences with financial help, Amy told Varsity that she appreciates how Fitz has given “financial support without being prompted”. She says those who receive the Cambridge Bursary were automatically given a cost of living payment in Michaelmas of £350 by the college.
Amy said that the payment “mitigated the potential of financial stress for the future”, adding that she was “very grateful”.
A spokesperson for the college said that they “recognise the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, particularly for students on fixed bursaries” and clarified that the payment had been made to all Fitz students receiving the Cambridge Bursary, and select others, with awards totalling £54,950.
They continued: “Any Fitz student experiencing financial hardship is encouraged to speak with their tutor, who will help identify sources of funding.”
*Some names have been changed to protect students' anonymity.
