-Fra:Marianne Gjevert Petersen [mailto:[email protected]]Sendt:9. november 2012 11:06Til:Akademikernes Centralorganisation; SU-ankenævn postkasse; Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (EVA);[email protected];[email protected];Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening; Dansk Erhverv; Dansk Industri; Danske Erhvervsskoler - Lederne; DanskeHandicaporganisationer;[email protected];Danske Studerendes Fællesråd; Danske Universiteter; Datatilsynet;Det Centrale Handicapråd; Annette Larsen; Finansrådet;[email protected];FTF; Ingeniørforeningen;[email protected];Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen; Kristoffer Nilsson; Landsorganisationen i Danmark; LærerstuderendesLandskreds;[email protected];V-VUS - Udland; Professionshøjskolernes Rektorkollegium;[email protected];TorbenHolm;[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];Berit Malene Krøyer Rasmussen;statens-[email protected];U-UI - enhedspostkasse; V-VUS - SU-RaadetEmne:Høring over udkast til ændring af SU-loven (Forenkling af udlandsstipendieordningen, udlandslån, m.v.)

Høringssvar vedr. udkast til ændring af SU-loven (forenkling af udlandsstipendie-ordningen, udlandslån m.v.)Danske Universiteter takker for ovennævnte, som er modtaget i høring fra Styrelsenfor Videregående Uddannelser og Uddannelsesstøtte den 9. november 2012.Danske Universiteter er generelt positiv over for hensigterne om administrative for-enklinger og om at reducere sagsbehandlingstiden for de studerende. Det noteres iden forbindelse, at Uddannelsesministeriet har indført en ’Fast Track’-procedure, derallerede har vist positive resultater.Med hensyn til den foreslående afskaffelse af ’ville-kunne-have’-listen kunne DanskeUniversiteter have en vis bekymring, hvad angår kvaliteten af de udenlandske kandi-datuddannelser, der godkendes for fremtiden. I forbindelse med 2011-evalueringenaf udlandsstipendieordningen blev det opgjort, at universiteterne via deres fagligekontrol har frasorteret 72 udenlandske uddannelser siden ordningens oprettelse.Danske Universiteter minder i øvrigt om, at ordningen i sin tid blev oprettet med detsigte at give flere danske unge økonomisk mulighed for at tage en hel kandidatud-dannelse på en udenlandsk videregående uddannelsesinstitutionaf kvalitet.DanskeUniversiteter finder det derfor hensigtsmæssigt, at lovbemærkningerne lægger op tilen løbende dialog mellem Danske Universiteter og Uddannelsesministeriet om, hvor-vidt forslaget vil medføre væsentlige ændringen af kvaliteten af de hele uddannelser,der fremover godkendes til SU og udlandsstipendium.Danske Universiteter noterer sig forslaget om mulighed for udlandslån til studerende,der oplever, at deltagerbetalingen til det udenlandske universitet overstiger den dan-ske taxametertakst, og vurderer, at lånemuligheden formentlig vil øge antallet afudgående studerende via ordningen. Det bemærkes i den forbindelse, at DanskeUniversiteter tidligere har understreget vigtigheden af, at udlandsstipendieordningenafspejler de danske uddannelsers finansiering, således at den økonomiske støtte til atlæse på en uddannelse i udlandet ikke overstiger taxametertilskuddet for en tilsva-rende dansk uddannelse. Derudover vækker det bekymring hos nogle universiteter,at der lægges op til lånefinansiering af studieophold i udlandet, når der findes et al-ternativ i form af universiteternes udvekslingsaftaler. Indførelsen af udlandslån kanikke alene have konsekvens for de studerendes økonomi, men også for universiteter-nes muligheder for at indgå og fastholde udvekslingsaftaler. Det er dog vurderingenfra andre universiteter, at lånemuligheden vil være nyttig for mange studerende,særligt hvad angår finansiering af sommerskoleophold samt studier ved særligt dyreuniversiteter.

Afslutningsvis finder Danske Universiteter det afgørende, at tilskuddet til universite-ternes administration af ordningen videreføres, da lovudkastet lægger op til, at uni-versiteterne fortsat vil have en omfattende forpligtelse til at informere, vejlede ogadministrere.Danske Universiteter har ingen bemærkninger til de foreslåede ændringer i hhv. lovom specialpædagogisk støtte ved videregående uddannelser og lov om befordrings-rabat til studerende ved videregående uddannelser.Lovudkastet har været sendt i høring på universiteterne. Vedhæftet er høringssvarfra Københavns Universitet, Aarhus Universitet, Syddansk Universitet, Roskilde Uni-versitet og Danmarks Tekniske Universitet. Aalborg Universitet har meddelt, at deikke har bemærkninger til forslaget.

Københavns Universitets høringssvar vedr.udkast til ændring af blandtandet SU-loven (Forenkling afudlandsstipendieordningen, udlandslån,m.v.)Københavns Universitet (KU) takker for muligheden for at afgive hørings-svar over udkast til ændring af blandt andet SU-loven (Forenkling af ud-landsstipendieordningen, udlandslån, m.v.). Der henvises til Styrelsen forUniversiteter og Internationaliserings høring af 9. november 2012.Her følger KU’s generelle og specifikke bemærkninger.Generelle bemærkningerKU støtter intentionerne med lovudkastet. KU finder det positivt, at opbyg-gelsen af fast track databasen vil nedbringe sagsbehandlingstiden for ud-landsstipendium til hele kandidatgrader, ligesom KU støtter de overordnedetanker om regelforenkling. KU opfordrer til at den nuværende praksis medtidsbegrænset godkendelse af uddannelserne fastholdes.KU finder det også positivt, at der med lovudkastet foreslås indført mulig-hed for at tildele udlandslån til de studerende, der ikke kan få dækket under-visningsafgiften fuldt ud med udlandsstipendium.KU er bekymret for om afskaffelsen af positivlisterne vil medføre en laverekvalitet i de hele uddannelser, når den faglige kontrol bortfalder.Specifikke bemærkninger til de enkelte afsnitAfsnit 2.1I næstsidste afsnit, sidste punktum, nævnes at ”Reglerne om studieaktivi-tetskontrol afventer beslutning om de tilsvarende regler ved studier i Dan-mark.” I øjeblikket kan de studerende få SU og udlandsstipendium til merit-givende studieophold i udlandet, når de har 1 SU-klip tilbage i uddannelsenog ikke er mere end 12 måneder forsinket i uddannelsen i forhold til forbrugaf klip. Hvis Folketinget i forbindelse med en SU-reform måtte beslutte, aten studerende ikke kan få SU, hvis vedkommende er forsinket i studiet i

forhold til forbrug af klip, så kan det komme på tale at afvise SU og ud-landsstipendium til studerende, der er forsinkede i studiet efter SU-reglerne.En stramning af SU-aktivitetsreglerne kan føre til, at færre studerendekommer på meritgivende studieophold med SU og udlandsstipendium.Afsnit 2.3KU finder den foreslåede ordning, hvor godkendelsen af SU til en uddan-nelse automatisk betyder godkendelse til udlandsstipendium, betænkelig. Dei afsnit 2.2, sidste afsnit, nævnte betingelser for at opnå godkendelse af ud-dannelser i udlandet som SU-berettigende, er baseret på administrative skøn,hvor den hidtidige praksis med de 5 lister i højere grad er baseret på fagligtskøn. KU har løbende givet afslag på optagelse af uddannelser på ”Ville-kunne-have”-listen, selv om disse uddannelser allerede var godkendt til SU.KU opfordrer derfor ministeriet til at inddrage universiteterne i vurdering afkvalitetsniveauet, hvis listerne afskaffes.Afsnit 3.3KU støtter indførelse af mulighed for at optage lån til hel eller delvis dæk-ning af den reelle studieafgift. På KU kan det komme på tale for studerendepå fx meritgivende sommerskoleophold at søge udlandslån til dækning afden del af studieafgiften, som ikke dækkes af udlandsstipendium, samt forde af vores studerende, der ønsker at læse på de dyre og mest prestigefyldteuniversiteter.Afsnit 5, andet afsnitEn mindre gruppe studerende vælger enten at tage en hel grad i løbet af de-res studie uden at søge om fuld merit efterfølgende, lige som nogle stude-rende benytter ordningen til at erhverve sig en ekstra kandidatgrad. I dissetilfælde vil udgiften til udlandsstipendium ikke føre til en reduktion i udgif-ten til uddannelsesinstitutionernes taxametre.Afsnit 5, sidste afsnitEn stigning i antallet af ansøgere vil betyde en stigning i vejledningshen-vendelser og administration af ordningen. I sidste afsnit skønnes det at ad-ministration af ordningen vil kræve ca. 1,5 årsværk. Det er uklart hvadskønnet er bygget på, da det må bero på det enkelte universitets administra-tive praksis. Det er ligeledes uklart hvad der menes med at udgiften forud-sættes afholdt indenfor uddannelsesinstitutionernes samlede tilskud.

Danske Universiteter har ved e-mail af 12. november 2012, j.nr. 2009-7200-04, anmodetuniversitetet om evt. bemærkninger til ovennævnte udkast.Syddansk Universitet har følgende bemærkninger:Den foreslåede forenkling af udlandsstipendieordningen vil betyde en hurtigere og meregennemskuelig ansøgnings- og godkendelsesprocedure for de studerende og hilsesderfor velkommen.Med en samlet godkendelse til såvel udlandsstipendium som SU vil kvaliteten af deudenlandske kandidatuddannelser fremover skulle godkendes efter kriterierne for SU-godkendelsen. Da universitets godkendelse af det faglige niveau i den udenlandskeuddannelse i de såkaldte ”ville-kunne-have”-aftaler primært har fokuseret på detfaglige niveau og forskningstilknytningen, forventer vi, at disse aspekter vil indgå i denfremtidige dialog mellem ministeriet og Danske Universiteter for at sikre, at degodkendte uddannelser er på samme faglige niveau som de tilsvarende danske.Indførelsen af udlandslån vurderes også positivt, da det vil kunne give de studerendeden fornødne sikkerhed i finansieringen af uddannelsesafgiften og dermed tilskyndeflere til at tage af sted.Samlet vurderer vi, at forslagene vil fremme de studerendes mulighed for at tageenten et studieophold eller en hel kandidatuddannelse i udlandet.På rektors vegneJørgen SchouKontorchef, Juridisk Kontor, LedelsessekretariatetTlf.MobilFaxEmailWebAdr.6550 10406011 10406550 1090[email protected]http://www.sdu.dk/ansat/jsCampusvej 55, 5230 Odense M

Roskilde Universitet har følgende kommentarer til udkastet:Universitet sætter pris på administrative forenklinger, men opfordrer naturligvis til, at det sikres,at afskaffelsen af den dobbelte kontrol ikke betyder en forringelse i kvalitetssikringen af deudenlandske uddannelser, som der ydes støtte til via Udlandsstipendieordningen. I forhold tilønsket om administrativ forenkling, vil universitetet henlede opmærksomheden på, at SU-medarbejderne på universitetet bruger uforholdsmæssigt mange administrative ressourcer påat udregne taksten for udlandsstipendier for studerende, der søger stipendium til etmeritgivende udlandsophold. Universitetet foreslår en forenkling af den nuværende model,således at stipendiets størrelse afgøres af det fag den studerende får merittilpå den danskeuddannelse. En sådan model vil betyde at:¶at ordningen vil blive ”udgiftsneutral” i forhold til den takst det danske universitetellers ville have fået, hvis den studerende havde gennemført hele uddannelsen iDanmark¶studerende ikke kan spekulere i at få et højere udlandsstipendium ved at udvælgesærlige kurser (og evt. følge andre kurser efterfølgende)¶det administrative ressourceforbrug vil blive væsentligt mindreUniversitetet henleder opmærksomheden på, at muligheden for at låne et beløb til dækning aftuition fee til uddannelser, hvor udlandsstipendiet ikke er dækkende, sætter universitetetsudvekslingsaftaler, herunder ikke mindst Erasmus-programmet under yderligere pres.Med venlig hilsenNina ChristensenLeder af StudieadministrationenTelefon: 46743762Uddannelse og Internationalisering, RUCwww.ruc.dk/om-universitetet/organisation/administration/

Hej!Vil du venligst påtegne denne og sende den til sagsbehandler og kopipersoner.Husk at sætte[email protected]på i CC-feltet.Med venlig hilsenESDH-EnhedenTil:Anne Mette Lund Dupont Terp ([email protected]), Arne Skov Andersen ([email protected]), AU([email protected] ([email protected]), CBS ([email protected] ([email protected]), DTU ([email protected]([email protected]), Inie Nør Madsen ([email protected]), ITU ([email protected]([email protected]), Jonas Holst-Jensen ([email protected]), Jonas Langeland Pedersen([email protected]), Lena Scotte ([email protected]), Michala Tomra ([email protected]), Nikolaj Borg

J.nr. 2009-7200-04Den 12. november 2012RATil UniversiteterneEmne: Høring over udkast til ændring af SU-loven (forenkling af udlandsstipendieordningen,udlandslån, m.v.)Styrelsen for Videregående Uddannelser og Uddannelsesstøtte har den 9. november 2012 via e-mail sendt det ovennævnte lovudkast i høring.Vedhæftet følger kopi af det af styrelsen udsendte materiale: høringsbrev, høringsliste oglovudkast.Bemærkninger til lovforslaget bedes sendt her til sekretariatet pr. e-mail på adressen[email protected]senest den 30. november 2012 kl. 12.00.Eventuelle spørgsmål om høringenkan rettes til specialkonsulent Rikke Skovgaard Andersen (tlf. 33 36 98 09).

Erhvervsskoler - Lederne; Danske Handicaporganisationer;[email protected];DanskeStuderendes Fællesråd; RKS; Datatilsynet; Det Centrale Handicapråd;[email protected];Finansrådet;[email protected];FTF; Ingeniørforeningen;[email protected];Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen; Kristoffer Nilsson; Landsorganisationen i Danmark;Lærerstuderendes Landskreds;[email protected];V-VUS - Udland; ProfessionshøjskolernesRektorkollegium;[email protected];Torben Holm;[email protected]; [email protected];[email protected];Berit Malene Krøyer Rasmussen;[email protected];U-UI -enhedspostkasse; V-VUS - SU-RaadetEmne:Høring over udkast til ændring af SU-loven (Forenkling af udlandsstipendieordningen,udlandslån, m.v.)Styrelsen for Videregående Uddannelser og Uddannelsesstøtte sender hermed udkast til forslag tillov om ændring af lov om statens uddannelsesstøtte (SU-loven)Vedlagt er- Høringsbrev- Høringsliste- Lovudkast

Vedrørende høring over forslag til lov om ændring af SU-loven, lov omspecialpædagogisk støtte ved videregående uddannelser og lov om befor-dringsrabat til studerende ved videregående uddannelserVed e-mail af 9. november 2012 har Styrelsen for Videregående Uddannelserog Uddannelsesstøtte anmodet om Datatilsynets eventuelle bemærkninger tilovennævnte lovforslag.Det fremgår af lovforslagets § 1, nr. 28 (den foreslåede § 46 h, stk. 1), at sty-relsen hos uddannelsesinstitutioner, offentlige myndigheder og institutionersamt private institutioner kan indhente oplysninger om den uddannelsessø-gende, der er nødvendige for tildeling og tilbagebetaling af udlandsstipendiumog udlandslån.Af lovforslagets § 1, nr. 28 (den foreslåede § 46 h, stk. 2), fremgår, at styrel-sen til uddannelsesinstitutionerne og til andre offentlige myndigheder kanvideregive oplysninger om de uddannelsessøgende, der er nødvendige forvejledning og afgørelse om udlandsstipendium og udlandslån.Af lovforslagets § 1, nr. 28 (den foreslåede § 46 h, stk. 3), fremgår, at ministe-ren for forskning, innovation og videregående uddannelser kan fastsætte reg-ler om1) adgang til at indhente oplysninger efter stk. 1 og 2 og kan herunderfastsætte, hvilke oplysninger der skal gives i elektronisk form,2) indhold og udformning af ansøgninger,3) ansøgningsfrister og4) krav til den uddannelsessøgendes dokumentation for optagelse, for-håndsgodkendelse af merit, studieafgiften og den studiemæssige frem-drift i udlandet.Af bemærkningerne til lovforslagets § 1, nr. 28 følger bl.a., at den gældende §46 g, af ordenshensyn foreslås nyaffattet som § 46 h, og at nyaffattelsen ingenændringer indeholder af den gældende formulering, ud over tilføjelsen af ud-landslån overalt, hvor udlandsstipendium nævnes.Datatilsynet har ved e-mail af 21. marts 2007 til Styrelsen for Statens Uddan-nelsesstøtte udtalt sig om § 46 g. Udtalelsen vedhæftes til orientering.

Af udtalelsen fremgår bl.a., at:”Idet forholdet til persondataloven ikke er omtalt i bemærkningerne til lovforslaget gårDatatilsynet ud fra, at behandlingsreglerne i persondatalovens kapitel 4 finder parallelanvendelse på den foreslåede behandling af oplysninger om uddannelsessøgende. Til-synet går ligeledes ud fra, at den i bemyndigelsesbestemmelsen fastsatte hjemmel forUndervisningsministeren til at indsamle oplysninger vil ske inden for rammerne afpersondatalovens behandlingsregler, samt for det tilfælde oplysninger udveksles elek-tronisk, at det sker under iagttagelse af persondatalovens krav om behandlingssikker-hed.For så vidt angår den nærmere udmøntning af reglerne om udlandsstipendier, skal Da-tatilsynet henvise til persondatalovens § 57, hvorefter der er pligt til at indhente en ud-talelse fra Datatilsynet ved udarbejdelse af retsforskrifter, der har betydning for be-skyttelsen af privatlivet i forbindelse med behandling af oplysninger – gerne i god tidinden en den påtænkte udmøntning er endelig fastlagt.”

Vedrørende høring over udkast til lov om ændring af lov om statens ud-dannelsesstøtte, jf. lovbekendtgørelse nr. 628 af 23. juni 2005 med senereændringer (udlandsstipendium)Ved e-post af 14. marts 2007 har Styrelsen for Statens Uddannelsesstøtte (SU-styrelsen) anmodet om Datatilsynets bemærkninger til ovennævnte udkast.Det fremgår af udkastets § 1, nr. 3, at der i lov om statens uddannelsesstøtteforeslås indsat § 46 g, stk. 1-2, hvorefter SU-styrelsen kan indhente og vide-regive oplysninger om uddannelsessøgende. Efter bestemmelsens stk. 3 erUndervisningsministeren bemyndiget til at fastsætte regler om bl.a. adgangentil at indhente oplysninger efter stk. 1 og 2, og ministeren kan fastsætte, hvilkeoplysninger der skal gives i elektronisk form.Idet forholdet til persondataloven ikke er omtalt i bemærkningerne til lov-forslaget går Datatilsynet ud fra, at behandlingsreglerne i persondatalovenskapitel 4 finder parallel anvendelse på den foreslåede behandling af oplysnin-ger om uddannelsessøgende. Tilsynet går ligeledes ud fra, at den i bemyndi-gelsesbestemmelsen fastsatte hjemmel for Undervisningsministeren til at ind-samle oplysninger vil ske inden for rammerne af persondatalovens behand-lingsregler, samt for det tilfælde oplysninger udveksles elektronisk, at det skerunder iagttagelse af persondatalovens krav om behandlingssikkerhed.For så vidt angår den nærmere udmøntning af reglerne om udlandsstipendier,skal Datatilsynet henvise til persondatalovens § 57, hvorefter der er pligt til atindhente en udtalelse fra Datatilsynet ved udarbejdelse af retsforskrifter, derhar betydning for beskyttelsen af privatlivet i forbindelse med behandling afoplysninger – gerne i god tid inden en den påtænkte udmøntning er endeligfastlagt.Kopi af dette brev er dags dato sendt til Justitsministeriets lovafdeling til ori-entering.Med venlig hilsen

Høringssvar vedr. udkast til ændring af SU-loven (Forenkling afudlandsstipendieordningen, udlandslån, m.v.)Danske Handicaporganisationer (DH) takker for muligheden for at fremkomme medbemærkninger til denne høring.Det er positivt, at der med dette lovforslag lægges op til en forenkling af administrationensamt nedbringelse af sagsbehandlingstiden i forbindelse med ansøgning om støtte tiluddannelse i udlandet. DH forventer, at det vil få en positivt afsmittende effekt påadministrationogsagsbehandlingstidiforbindelsemedansøgningomhandicapkompenserende støtte ved kortere og længerevarende studierelateredeudlandsophold.I en global verden bør det i det hele taget være lettere for studerende at tage på kortere ellerlængerevarende studierelaterede ophold i udlandet og stive og langsommeligeadministrative procedurer må aldrig være en hindring herfor. Dette gælder også for personermed handicap, som skal have samme muligheder som andre studerende for at kunne deltagei uddannelse i udlandet. I forbindelse med ophold i udlandet bør det sikres, studerende kanfå den nødvendige kompensation til at kunne gennemføre uddannelsen. Ellers vil der væretale om diskrimination. Det drejer sig primært om kompensation til blinde og svagtseende,døve og hørehæmmede, personer med fysisk handicap m.fl.I Lov om specialpædagogisk støtte ved videregående uddannelser (SPS-loven) ogtilsvarende bekendtgørelse gives studerende med handicap mulighed for at få støtte tiluddannelse i udlandet. Intentionerne i lovgivningen er helt i overensstemmelse medhandicapkonventionens artikel 24 om uddannelse. Det er den konkrete udformning af denmåde hvorpå støtten tildeles, der er problematisk, fordi mulighed/begrænsning for støtte erknyttet op på økonomi, frem for på funktion. Af § 3 stk. 3 fremgår det, at ”begrænsning afstøtte svarende til det økonomiske niveau, hvor støtte er eller ville være ydet til den enkeltestuderende ved uddannelse i Danmark, til studierejser og praktikperioder i udlandet, jf. § 4,stk. 1, nr. 1, samt til uddannelse i udlandet, jf. § 4, stk. 1, nr. 3 og 4.”

Problemet opstår, fordi det kan være mere omkostningskrævende at medbringehandicapkompenserende støtteforanstaltninger til udlandet, end at anvende selvsammeforanstaltninger i Danmark. Derved fratages den studerende mulighed for at blivekompenseret for sit handicap i udlandet. Det er ikke acceptabelt. Derfor skal denhandicapkompenserende støtte ved studierelaterede udlandsophold tildeles efter denstuderende behov for kompensation.Hvis det eksempelvis handler om en studerende, der er døv, bliver vedkommendekompenseret for sit handicap gennem tegnsprogstolkning for at kunne deltage på lige fod iundervisningen. Hvis den studerende skal på studietur til udlandet, kan denhandicapkompenserende støtte i udgangspunktet medbringes. Men den ekstraudgift, detkoster at have en eller flere tegnsprogstolke med til udlandet på fuld tid, kan der ikke givesstøtte til, som lovgivningen er udformet i dag. Det er problematisk og betyder, at denstuderende afskæres for deltagelse på eventuelle studieture i udlandet.Det skal understreges, at ovenstående blot er et eksempel, der skal illustrere den beskrevneproblematik. Der vil være andre eksempler på behov for at kunne tage sinhandicapkompensation med på kortere studieture i udlandet i forbindelse med de andretyper af funktionsnedsættelser og støttebehov, der kan gives bevilling til, jf. SPS-loven.Studerende med handicap skal kunne studere på lige vilkår med øvrige studerende. Derforskal det sikres, at studerende med handicap får ret til at medbringe nødvendigehandicapkompenserende foranstaltninger på studieture i udlandet.

DI takker for muligheden for at kommenterelov om ændring af SU-loven lov omspecialpædagogisk støtte ved videregående uddannelser og lov om befordringsr a-bat til studerende ved videregående uddannelser (Forenkling af ud-landsstipendieordningen, udlandslån, ophævelse af bestemmelser omstøtte tilsærlige kompetenceudvidende forløb m.v.).DI finder det overordentlig positivt, at der med loven indføres initiativer, der kangøre det lettere for danske studerende at tage på studieophold i udlandet.Den nye låneadgang i forbindelse med studieophold i udlandet sikrer, at det ikke erlikviditetsbegrænsninger, der afholder danske studerende fra at studere på top-universiteter i udlandet.Ligeledes støtter DI de administrative forenklinger, der gør det muligt at opnå dennødvendige, hurtigere sagsbehandlingstid i forbindelse med SU og taxametertil-skud i forbindelse med udlandsophold.Når det gøres nemmere for danske studerende at tage på udvekslingsophold udenom de danske uddannelsesinstitutioners gensidige udvekslingsaftaler, bør det dogogså indtænkes, at det kan få en betydning for balancen mellem ind- og udgåendestuderende på de danske uddannelsesinstitutioner. De forbedrede regler for denudgående mobilitet uden om de danske uddannelsesinstitutioner kan få en negativeffekt på institutionernes antal af ”egne” udgående studerende og dermed betyde ennegativ balance for institutionerne.

Høring om udkast til ændring af SU-loven (vedr. udlandsstipendieord-ningen)Styrelsen har i november 2012 sendt ovenstående udkast i høring.EDU Danmark er som privat aktør ikke en del af høringskredsen, men vi har arbejdet medloven siden dens ikrafttræden pr. 1. juli 2008 og er – ud fra den seneste offentliggjorte sta-tistik - en af de danske aktører, som bistår flest danske studerende, som benytter sig af ud-landsstipendieordningen. Vi har tidligere bemærket, at vores kommentarer har kunnet an-vendes og tillader os derfor også at kommentere denne lovændring.Udlandsstipendieordningen har siden indførelsen været kraftigt medvirkende til at opfyldede generelle politiske målsætninger om at et stigende antal danske studerende skal erhver-ve sig kompetencer og erfaringer i forbindelse med studieophold – korte og længere – i ud-landet.Overordnet set vil de nu foreslåede ændringer til SU-loven kunne medvirke yderligere til atopfylde de politiske målsætninger – dels gennem en forenkling af de administrative proce-durer og dels gennem en forbedring af finansieringsmulighederne for den enkelte stude-rende.

Forenkling af ordningen - ListesystemetEn forenkling af listesystemet for hele kandidatuddannelser i udlandet vil være et stortfremskridt, idet hele listesystemet har skabt stor usikkerhed og forvirring, bl.a. hos de stu-derende. Særligt har den dobbelte godkendelse, hhv. til SU og til Udlandsstipendium, gjortordningen uigennemskuelig og godkendelsen for den enEDU er Danmarks største og mest erfarne repræsentant for udenlandske universiteter. Vi samarbejder med ca. 40 internationale, anerkendte universiteter og hjælper studerende fra danske videregående uddannel-·‐ser med deres studieplaner i udlandet. EDU er endvidere dansk administrator for sprogtesten IELTS (In-·‐ternational English Language Testing System) – verdens største akademiske engelsktest.

kelte studerende meget langtrukken. SU har i en lang årrække gennemført en godkendel-sesprocedure for godkendelse af SU til hele uddannelser i udlandet. Et stort antal stude-rende anvender allerede i dag denne godkendelsesordning i forbindelse med ansøgningertil at læse hele bacheloruddannelser i udlandet. Med den foreslående ordning vil der kunneskabes en ensartet og gennemskuelig godkendelsesprocedure for støtte til alle universitets-uddannelser i udlandet, på såvel bachelor- som kandidatniveau.I den forbindelse vil det skabe størst mulig gennemskuelighed for alle ansøgere, at princip-perne for SU-godkendelse af uddannelser i udlandet samt listerne over godkendte uddan-nelser bliver offentliggjort. Fast Track-listen der blev indført i 2012 er et godt skridt på ve-jen til et mere overskueligt system, men der bør gøres mere for at lette overblikket for alleansøgere.

Listesystemet på Kulturministeriets områdeIfølge forslaget vil der fortsat - af hensyn til de specielle forhold, der gør sig gældende forde kunstneriske og kulturelle uddannelser – skulle opretholdes en begrænsning på detteområde. Det er svært at kommentere på forslaget, så længe der er tale om et endnu ikkefastsat regelsæt, men vi gør opmærksom på, at der fortsat vil være en del usikkerhed blandtde studerende om mulighederne, hvis regelsættet ikke er meget klart.Det kommende regelsæt bør være klart vedrørende afgrænsningen mellem fagområdersom dækkes af såvel danske universiteter som institutioner for de kunstneriske og kultu-relle uddannelser. Et konkret eksempel kan illustrere problemet: En studerende ansøgteom godkendelse af en udenlandsk kandidatuddannelse indenfor Multimedia Design. Entilsvarende uddannelse udbydes på flere danske universiteter, men blev alligevel konkretvurderet til at høre under Kulturministeriets område, hvorefter flere danske studerendemåtte opgive at tage uddannelsen i udlandet. Et andet eksempel på et grænseområde er ar-kitekter, hvor landskabsarkitekter og andre arkitekter vil være omfattet af forskellige regel-sæt. I udlandet vil disse områder oftest ligge under samme institution (sædvanligvis et uni-versitet).En opretholdelse af listesystemet for Kulturministeriets område vil derfor skulle koordine-res, så den generelle SU-godkendelse af kulturelle og kunstneriske uddannelser fortsat ermulig (for uddannelser på Bachelor-niveau).

danske studerende mulighed for at tage et studieophold i udlandet – uanset økonomiskbaggrund. Vores erfaring viser, at mange af de studerende, som indtil nu har valgt at an-vende udlandsstipendiet, har måttet finde ekstra finansiering for at kunne realisere ophol-det., f.eks. fra forældre eller i form af banklån. I en række tilfælde vælger studerende i dagde bedre universiteter (som generelt har højere studieafgifter) fra, ud fra økonomiske hen-syn.En overvejelse kan naturligvis være om studerende vil sætte sig i for stor gæld ved åbnin-gen af en sådan lånemulighed. Vores erfaring er imidlertid, at de danske studerende i rela-tion til udlandsophold generelt er ret kvalitetsfokuserede og dermed også fokuserede på atvælge et studieophold af kvalitet og som i sidste ende er både økonomisk rentabelt og reali-stisk for den enkelte.En beløbsgrænse på 100.000 kr. pr. studerende vil – sammen med udlandsstipendiet - væ-re tilstrækkeligt til at hjælpe danske studerende ind på rigtigt mange kvalitetsuddannelserrundt omkring i verdenen i et eller to semestre.Det skal dog understreges, at den foreslåede lånemulighed fortsat ikke vil dække den fuldestudieafgift i mere end et enkelt semester på de allerbedste universiteter i verden. Et ek-sempel på dette er vores eget partneruniversitet, Columbia University i New York, hvorstudieafgiften for et semester beløber sig til ca. 105.000 DKK.

IkrafttrædelseForslaget til lovændring er fastsat til at træde i kraft pr. 1. juli 2013.Langt den største del af de danske studerende, som anvender udlandsstipendieordningen,søger ud i efteråret. Det hænger naturligt sammen med de danske studieordninger, hvorudlandsophold passer bedst ind på hhv. 5. semester på bachelorniveau og 3. semester påkandidatniveau.De studerende, som anvender ordningen, har normalt en ret lang planlægningshorisont –eksempelvis behandler EDU nu ansøgningerne om udrejse i efteråret 2013. Med de forbed-rede finansieringsmuligheder vil et stort antal studerende sandsynligvis ønske at anvendede nye muligheder allerede til efteråret 2013. Det vil derfor være af betydning, at ansøgeretil studiestart i efteråret 2013 allerede kan planlægge og ansøge i løbet af foråret 2013. Imodsat fald vil effekten af lovændringen tidligst slå igennem for studerende som er ude i 2.halvår af 2014.

Mange studerende oplever fortsat, at meritgodkendelse i relation til den danske uddannel-sesverden er et problem. Det skyldes f.eks. studieordninger der ikke åbner mulighed forudlandsophold eller administrative processer hvor danske institutioner ikke viser tilstræk-kelig fleksibilitet. Vi har f.eks. set tilfælde, hvor en dansk studerende ikke kunne få meritfor fag på et af verdens førende universiteter, Columbia University, alene med den begrun-delse, at fagene på Columbia var 3. års fag, medens den studerende læste på 2. år i Dan-mark.Mobilitetsvinduer på så mange danske uddannelser som muligt og en større fleksibilitetved meritgodkendelsen vil kunne afhjælpe dette.

HøringssvarFrit Forum takker for invitationen til at kommentere på lovforslaget for ændringer af SU-loven. Somudgangspunkt, er Frit Forum positivt stillede overfor internationalisering og udveksling af danskestuderende med udenlandske universiteter.Vi tror på at uddannelse for de danske studerende skal være gratis, og i så vidt muligt omfang være støttetaf staten med SU.Derfor henledes opmærksomheden på de allerede istandsatte europæiske ordninger i kraft af Erasmusprogrammet, hvor udveksling er gratis for universitetsstuderende. Udenlandslånet fremkommer som enbrugerbetalt version af dette, hvilket stiller spørgsmålstegn ved disse nye tiltags politiske motiver.Som studerende, ønsker vi en garanti for at udenlandslånet ikke er en skjult brugerbetaling, og indirekteerstatning for nationale gratis uddannelsesmuligheder.Ligeledes rejser vi nogle bekymringer i forhold til tilbagebetalingsordningen af udlandslånet :- det ikke fremgår tydeligt nok hvem der reelt kan søge, om det kan være i puljer – fordelt på flereuddannelsesforløb og år.- hvad der sker hvis den studerende af en force majeure grund ikke kan gennemføre uddannelsesforløbet –bliver gælden så afskrevet?- ved afviklingen af gælden er vores bekymring ligeledes om her er tale om en ’luksusfælde’ for studerende.Vi håber på at jobsituationen forbedres og at de studerende kan indtræde direkte på arbejdsmarkedet. Vimå dog være realistiske og tage forbehold for, at det nok ikke er tilfældet. Derfor henleder vi Ministerietsopmærksomhed på den engelske regerings studielånsordning:Under den Engelke studielånsordning afdrages der først på det optagende lån når den studerene er heltfærdigt uddannet. Den færdiguddannede afdrager først når denne er i et job med en indkomst der liggerover en sats, sat af staten. Hvis dennes indkomst aldrig når satsen, afskrives gælden efter 25år eller vedfyldt 65år, hvorved den færdiguddannede ikke er gældsbundet (se bilag).

1 Introduction Who is this guide for?This guide applies to students who take outgovernment loans during Academic Year 2011/2012to support their study at higher-educationinstitutions in England, Northern Ireland, Scotlandand Wales. It explains what you are committingyourself to when you take out a loan, and it isimportant that you carefully read and understandthis information.Please keep a copy as it provides information thatyou will need until you have finished repaying yourloan.This guide is for students who:•are starting on approved full-time highereducation courses at or below first-degree level;•are starting or continuing on Initial TeacherTraining (ITT) courses;•are already on these courses (as long as thecourse started no earlier than the 1998/1999academic year, with some exceptions – seebelow);•already have one or more loans for part-timestudy (from the 2004/2005 academic year,support for part-time students is in the formof grants);•qualify for a hardship loan (as long as the coursestarted after the 1998/1999 academic year, apartfrom the exceptions below).This guide doesnotapply to people with studentloans who:•started their course in 1997/1998 or earlier;•started their course in 1998/1999 but wereclassed as a gap-year student;•could not start their course in 1997/1998because their A level (or equivalent) grades werenot good enough, but who were able to start acourse in 1998/1999 after having their gradesraised as the result of an appeal; or•started their degree course immediatelyafter completing an HND or DipHE course in1997/1998, 1998/1999 or 1999/2000.If you fall into these categories, you will have takenout fixed-term (sometimes known as mortgagestyle) loans. You will find the terms and conditionsfor these loans in the loan agreements you signedwhen you took the loans out.If you are not sure if this guide applies to you, askStudent Finance England if you live in England,your local authority (LA) if you live in Wales,Student Finance NI office if you live in NorthernIreland, the Student Awards Agency for Scotland(SAAS) if you live in Scotland or the EU CustomerServices Team if you are an EU student (see pages19 and 20 for contact numbers).

You will find full details of the conditions forreceiving student loans in the relevant StudentSupport Regulations. The conditions for repayingIncome Contingent Loans are included in thefollowing regulations (which may be replaced bylater regulations).•For England and Wales, the Education (StudentLoans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009 No 470.•For Northern Ireland, the Education (StudentLoans) (Repayment) Regulations (NorthernIreland) 2000 as amended.•For Scotland, the Repayment of Student Loans(Scotland) Regulations 2000 as amended.You can buy printed copies of these regulationsfrom a bookshop or order them fromThe Stationery Office (TSO) Ltd (phone orderline0870 600 5522.Or order them online atwww.tsoshop.co.uk.This guide provides information about the currentterms of your loan and repayment. The regulationsmay change from time to time and this means theterms of your loan may also change.Depending on where you apply, your loan contractis with the Secretary of State for Business,Innovation and Skills in England, the Departmentfor Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland,the Scottish Government, or the Welsh Ministers.The Student Loans Company, which is anon-profit government organisation, is acting asagent. Please see the loan application form formore details.

2 How student loans work What are student loans?Student loans are money, provided while you areat university or college, by the governments ofEngland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.Student loans are available to help with livingcosts such as accommodation, food, booksand travel and, where applicable, loans are alsoavailable to cover the costs of university tuitionfees.You should keep details of your income, such aspayslips or P60s. This is similar to the informationyou will need to keep for general tax purposesand will help to make sure that you repay the rightamount. Your payslips and P60s will also showthe amount of any student loan repayments youremployer takes from your earnings.When you first start to work or you changejobs, you must tell your employer that you areresponsible for making student loan repayments.If your repayments do not start when theyshould, you should first tell your employer. If youremployer cannot sort the matter out, you shouldcontact SLC (or HMRC) to help you. If you areself-employed, HMRC will be able to advise onhow you make repayments. If you are workingoutside the UK for more than three months, pleasesee section 8 for information on how to makerepayments.

How are loans paid?If your loan application is approved, you willreceive your Maintenance Loan when theuniversity or college confirms you are attending.Your loan or loans will usually be paid in threeinstalments, except if your permanent home is inScotland, and you are studying there, in whichcase you will be paid in monthly instalments.You can apply for a student loan any time up tonine months from the start of the academic year.However, if you apply late, you may receive fewerinstalments, depending on when you apply in theyear. Tuition Fee Loans will be paid direct to youruniversity or college.

What interest will I pay on the loan?Although student loans are contracts which canbe enforced by the civil courts, they are not profitmaking loans. The Government subsidises theactual cost of interest on the loans, so you donot have to pay the same rate of interest thatyou would be charged if you were to take out acommercial loan (for example, from a bank orbuilding society).You will be charged interest on your loan fromwhen you receive your ﬁrst payment untilit has been repaid in full.The interest will be‘compounded’ (that is, added to the total amountyou owe) every month. The interest rate can varyfrom year to year and most changes are appliedfrom 1st September each year, althoughchanges can happen during the year too.The most accurate and up to date informationon interest rates can be found atwww.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/interest.

When do I start paying back the loan?You only start repaying your loan once you haveleft university or college and your income is abovethe threshold of £15,000 per year (£1,250 a monthor £288 a week).You will have to start making repayments inthe April after you finish or leave your course.However, you can make voluntary paymentsbefore or after you leave your course which willreduce your balance earlier. SLC will write to youbefore you start making repayments to tell youhow the repayments will be collected. However,SLC will not collect any repayments before theApril after you leave your course. Money that youearn before then will not be taken into accountwhen your repayments are worked out.

When will student loans be cancelled?There are circumstances where your student loanmay be cancelled so that you never have to payit back. This depends on the rules at the time youtake out a loan. If you have taken out a studentloan in the past for a different period of study,your loan may be cancelled under slightly differentcircumstances.In England, Scotland and Wales and NorthernIreland, if you entered higher education before1 September 2006, and have already taken outa student loan for that period of study, your loanplus any interest will be cancelled:•when you reach the age of 65;•if you die before you pay the loan off; or•if you become disabled and because ofthat disability you are registered as beingpermanently unfit for work.In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, if youentered higher education after 1 September 2006,or if this is the first time you have taken out astudent loan for your current period of study, yourloan plus any interest will be cancelled:•25 years after the April when you first becameresponsible for paying back the loan (rather thanwhen you reach the age of 65);•if you die before you pay the loan off; or•if you become disabled and because ofthat disability you are registered as beingpermanently unfit for work.In Scotland, these conditions apply but yourloan, plus any interest, will not be cancelled until35 years after the April when you first becameresponsible for repaying the loan. However, in allcases, you must have made all repayments basedon your income until that date. And, in certaincircumstances, SLC may recover any amountsyou still owe up to that date.If you would like to know more about thecircumstances in which loans will be cancelled,please visitwww.studentloanrepayment.co.uk.

What if I am a part-time student?In England, Wales and Northern Ireland part-timestudents can apply for a Fee Grant and a CourseGrant. Neither of these grants have to be repaid.If your permanent home is in Scotland and you arestudying in Scotland, you may be able to get upto £500 towards the cost of your tuition fees eachyear, as long as you are studying:•at least 40 credits of an eligible higher-educationcourse that you are studying on a part-timebasis; or•at least 40 credits of an eligible ProfessionalDevelopment Award (PDA) or a ContinuingProfessional Development (CPD) award atScottish Qualification Framework level 7 to11that you are studying on a part-time basis.You may also be able to apply for the DisabledStudents’ Allowances (DSAs) if you are studying atleast 50% of a full-time higher-education courseon a part-time basis.You can get more information from the SAASwebsite atwww.saas.gov.ukor by phoning0800 953 0127.If you have one or more part-time loans for the2003/2004 academic year or earlier, you will haveto repay them in line with the terms of this guide.

What help is there for students withdisabilities?If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland,you can get advice on the support available tostudents with disabilities or specific learningdisabilities in the guide ‘Bridging the Gap: a guideto the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) inhigher education’. This guide is published everyyear and you can download it from the relevantwebsites;•England,www.direct.gov.uk/studentﬁnance•Wales,www.studentﬁnancewales.co.uk•Northern Ireland,www.studentﬁnanceni.co.ukIf you live in Scotland you can get specificadvice for students with disabilities in the guide– Helping you meet the costs of learning –Funding for Disabled Students 2010-2011 whichis available online atwww.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/learnerfunding/Funding2010-11

What if I decide to take a further course ofstudy at a later date?At some point after completing your first course,you may want to take a further course of study.If you are eligible for, and take out, student loansfor this further study, you need to be aware of twoimportant points:•If your income while you are studying is higherthan the loan repayment threshold (explained insection 4), you will continue to make repaymentson your original loan.•Although SLC will deal separately with the loanfor your next course while you are studying,you will only receive one statement each yearcovering all of your loans. In the April after youhave left your second course, your second loanwill be added to whatever you owe on youroriginal loan and from that point onwards thiswill be treated as one loan account.

3 Your responsibilities When you take out a loan, you will sign adeclaration which will be a contract.This statesthat you have read and understood the Termsand Conditions.You must agree to repay yourloan in line with the regulations that apply at thetime the repayments are due and as they areamended. The regulations may be replaced bylater regulations.You must make sure that you provide completeand correct information when you take out theloan. You must tell SLC about any changes tothese details:•during the application process;•while you are at university or college; and•until you have repaid your loan in full.Your loan agreement is a contract. However,because your loan is classed as ‘low cost’, it isnot covered by the Consumer Credit Act.Youmustprovide your National Insurance Number(NINO) or explain why you do not have one.SLC cannot process your application withoutthis. SLC will ask the Department for Workand Pensions (or the Social Security Agencyin Northern Ireland) to confirm this, in order toavoid fraudulent applications. HMRC will alsoneed these details so that they know you have astudent loan and can collect repayments, or askyour employer to do so. If you do not have a NINO(or have lost it), you should call HMRC’s NationalInsurance registrations helpline on0845 915 7006.However, if your situation is more complicated,contact SLC.

Changes in your circumstancesAs part of the contract you sign, you must tellSLC about changes in your circumstances.For example, you must let SLC know aboutany changes to your name, home or term-timeaddress, phone number or the details of the bankor building-society account that your loan is paidinto. After finishing or leaving your course, youmust continue to inform SLC about changes incircumstances – for example, if you plan to leavethe country, or change your employment status(from employed to self-employed and so on) –so that SLC can advise you on arrangements forrepaying the loan.If you do not give SLC accurate and up-to-dateinformation so that your loan can be repaid,you may have to pay a penalty charge or repaythe loan and any interest and penalties in onelump sum.

Information neededFor most people, repayments will be collectedthrough the UK tax system by employers takingamounts from people’s pay through thePay As You Earn (PAYE) system. If you are aself-assessment customer or are self-employed,you will make payments through the taxself-assessment process. If you live abroad, youwill be expected to repay your loan direct to SLC.Sections 5 and 8 cover the process in more detail.When you take out a loan, you will have to givespecific information so that repayments canbe collected when they are due. If you do notgive SLC the information they need to collectrepayments, you may be charged penalties andasked to pay the costs of finding the informationyou have not provided.

You must also let SLC or your local authority(if you are a student from Wales), your StudentFinance NI office (if you are a student fromNorthern Ireland), the EU Customer Services team(if you are an EU student) or SAAS (if you are astudent from Scotland) know if you:•decide to change your university or college;•decide to change your course of study;•get a bursary or scholarship from somewhere(for example, a Department of Health bursary);•change your home, term-time or parentaladdress;•change your plans on whether or not to live inyour parental home, halls of residence, lodgingsor your own home during term time;•change the academic year in which you willbegin your course;•know that the start or end dates of your coursehave changed;•do not begin to study, leave your course or areexpelled;•are absent from your course for more than60 days because of illness;•are absent for a period for any reason other thanillness; or•are 25 or over at the beginning of the academicyear, or you get married and your namechanges.

Changing jobsWhen you change jobs, your previous employershould give you a P45 with a ‘Y’ in the‘Continue Student Loan Deductions’ box. Yournew employer will start to make student loandeductions from the first available pay day(if your income is above the threshold). If you donot have a P45, your employer will ask you to fillin a P46 form which has a tick box to show if youhave a student loan. You must tick this box if youhave finished or left your course and it is after6 April of the tax year after you left universityor college.For more information about repaying through thetax system, please see section 5. Section 9 givesmore information about what could happen if youdo not make your repayments or keep to yourresponsibilities.

4 What you repay The amount that you repay will be based onyour income after you have finished or left yourcourse. This is known as an ‘income-contingent’repayment. You will not normally have to makeany repayments while you are studying. However,if you go on to do a further course, you may haveto repay a loan relating to an earlier course if yourincome is more than the level explained below.The amount is worked out as follows.You will not have to make any repayments atall while your income is under a set level (thethreshold). The threshold for the period up to5 April 2012 will be £15,000 gross (incomebefore deductions) each year. Any change tothis threshold,along with examples ofrepayments, will be published atwww.studentloanrepayment.co.uk.Your repayments will be equal to 9% of anyincome above the threshold. A differentpercentage may apply if you move to live in acountry outside the UK. Section 8 explains this inmore detail.If you are employed, your repayments will normallybe taken each week or month from your pay.There are more details about how this will workon page 11. This means that if you are paid eachmonth and your monthly pay stays the sameduring the year, the amount you repay in one yearwill be taken in 12 equal instalments. Rememberthough, if your salary changes each month (forexample, because of overtime), the amount yourepay will also change.You do not have to make any repayments if youearn below the threshold, and only earnings overthis amount will be taken into account.

Making extra repaymentsWhatever you earn, you can pay off your loanmore quickly by making extra repaymentsvoluntarily. You can do this online atwww.studentloanrepayment.co.uk.You canalso make repayments by standing order, debit orcredit card, postal order, bank giro credit, or bysending a cheque, quoting your reference number.If you want to, you can make repayments beforethe start date for repayments in the April after youfinish or leave your course.If you do choose to make voluntary repayments,you will pay your loan off more quickly. However,you should remember that this is voluntary andsowill not affect the repayment amount collectedthrough the tax system.So, if you are employed,your employer will still have to take amounts fromyour salary. If you are a self assessment customer,you will still have to pay the amount due based onyour income for the year. You cannot get a refundof any amounts you repay voluntarily, unless youhave finished paying off your loan and paid toomuch.When you are near the end of your repayments,SLC will contact you to discuss moving torepaying by direct debit for the last 12 – 23months. This is a voluntary scheme which meansthat you can opt out of making your repaymentsthrough PAYE and can make agreed direct debitsdirectly to SLC. More information is given insection 7.

5 Repaying through the tax system Making repayments through the PAYEschemeIf you are an employee paying UK tax, youremployer will take repayments from your pay,at the same time as they take tax and NationalInsurance contributions. Your employer will takethe repayments from your salary and these will beshown on your payslip.SLC will tell HMRC when you finish or leave yourcourse and will give them details, such as yourname and National Insurance Number. HMRC willcheck to see if you are working and if you are, theywill tell your employer that you have a loan (but nothow much).Employers may also be told that they need tomake deductions through normal tax forms. Whenyou change your job or start work for the first time,you will have to give your new employer a P45 or aP46 form to fill in. These both have a section to letyour new employer know they need to start takingamounts for student loans. If you have a P45 formfrom a previous job, your last employer shouldhave put a ‘Y’ in this box for you. On the P46 form,there is a box which you must tick if it is after 6April of the tax year after you left or finish yourcourse, so that your employer will know that youare due to repay your loan.

How do employers know how much to takefrom your pay?HMRC will give your employer information so theycan work out how much to take from your pay. Ifyour pay is above the threshold in the pay period,your employer will take the repayments and passthem on to HMRC. After the end of each year, youremployer sends an annual return to HMRC whichtells HMRC the amount of student loans that havebeen deducted from your earnings during the year.Your employer will send details of your repaymentsto HMRC at the end of each tax year.HMRC takes this information from your employer’sannual return and lets SLC know the amount ofthe repayments that have been made. SLC willthen update your account.It will take sometime after the end of each tax year to updateyour accountbecause of the large numbers ofend-of-year returns from employers each year.However, the repayments you have made willbe used to pay off your loan for the year that thedeductions were taken from your salary – usuallyin 12 equal instalments. SLC will make sure thecorrect amount of interest has been added to youraccount, and you will not pay any extra interesteven if your repayment details take some time toreach SLC.It is important to understand that repaymentstaken by your employer will be worked out on‘individual pay periods’ and not on your totalincome for a whole year. (If you receive tax credits,these do not count as income for working out yourstudent loan repayment). HMRC will only know thetotal that your employer has taken over the wholetax year when they receive your employer’s annualreturn with that information. The scheme works ina similar way to tax deductions.You need to keeptrack of what is being taken from your payeach month, because neither SLC nor HMRCwill know what you still owe on your loan untilyour employer has made their annual return toHMRC and HMRC have passed the informationto SLC.

Employees who are asked to makeself-assessment returns by HMRCIf you are an employee who also receives a taxreturn under the self-assessment (SA) system, youmay have to make some loan repayments with thereturn, as well as those taken by your employer.The total amount of student loan you have torepay for the year will be based on your totalincome for the year – that is, all your appropriatePAYE income plus any extra self employed incomeand any unearned income (if it is above £2,000 ayear).You can claim credit in your tax return for anystudent loan amounts your employer has alreadytaken during the year so you do not repay toomuch.Like PAYE, the SA system will work out your loanrepayments based on your income above thethreshold, at a rate of 9%. Any SA payment will bedue on 31 January following the tax year of yourassessment. You can find information on how tofill in your SA return in the guidance and bookletsprovided by HMRC.If HMRC do not send you a tax return, you will nothave to make further repayments on top of thoseyour employers are already taking. You can, at anytime, choose to pay off your loan more quickly bymaking voluntary repayments.

What happens if I am self-employed?If you are self-employed, you will have to sendHMRC a tax return each year under theself-assessment (SA) system. Your student loanrepayments will be due as part of your SA billfor your tax. The student loan repayment will bebased on all your gross income over the threshold,including all your unearned income (for example,dividend income from shares) if it is more than£2,000 a year. There are some general pointsto remember when working out your incomeeach year.•The income of your husband, wife, partner,parent or any other relative will not be taken intoaccount.•Income from Child Benefit and disability benefits,including Employment and Support Allowance,will not be taken into account.•Tax credits will not be taken into account.•If you make voluntary repayments, you will stillhave to make repayments through theSA system.

Living abroadIf you do not pay UK tax because, for example,you live and work abroad for a non-UK employer,you must tell SLC, and make arrangements tomake your repayments direct. You must contactSLC before you leave the UK.If you don’t, theycan charge penalties on your loan and wherenecessary, ask you to repay the full amount ofloan, plus interest and penalties in one lumpsum.SLC will ask for details of your income and, if youare responsible for making repayments, will workout how much these should be. The amount youhave to repay each month will be fixed each yearand will be worked out by following similar rulesto those that apply to UK taxpayers. However, it ispossible that the earnings threshold will not be thesame as it is in the UK. It could be higher or lower,depending on which country you live in. SLC willask you to make repayments in pounds sterling.You will have to pay any charges your bank makesto transfer funds to SLC. Please see section 8(‘Moving abroad’) for more information.

Continuing Trainee Teachers onPostgraduate Certiﬁcate of Educationcourses (PGCE)Different arrangements will apply to traineeteachers on PGCE courseswhich commencedprior to 2010/11who have both types of loan.If this applies to you and you are a PGCE studentwith a fixed term loan from your first degree, andyou take out an income contingent loan for yourPGCE, you will only have to pay off one loan ata time.SLC will write to you giving you the choice ofwhich loan to repay first. There is information onPGCE options on the website atwww.studentloanrepayment.co.uk.

Other deductions from earningsThere may be other deductions from yourincome that will need to be considered whenyour repayments are worked out. For example,if a court or a local authority has placed anAttachment of Earnings Order (AEO) on you, or ifthe Child Support Agency has placed a Deductionfrom Earnings Order (DEO) on you.If one of the orders is to collect Council Tax orCommunity Charge, your employer will not takestudent loan repayments until that order has beencleared. Orders to collect child support, fines ormaintenance are dealt with before the studentloan amount. And, the amount of student loantaken may be limited so that your take-home pay(your pay after deductions) does not fall below anyprotected level set by the court. Any court ordersto collect other debts are dealt with after thestudent loan amount has been taken.In Scotland, if your employer has to keep to anyearnings arrestment (this means where yourmoney can be taken to stop you repaying onedebt before another) or deduction of earningsorder, they will not take any student loanrepayments.

6 Yearly statements The student loan system has been set up to usethe tax system to collect your repayments. As aresult, SLC can only update your account once ayear, after receiving your repayment informationfrom HMRC.Once you have started to make repayments,you will receive a statement as follows.•If you are making all of your repayments throughyour employer using the PAYE system, you willget a statement at some point after the endof the tax year. If you have more than one job,you may receive more than one statement fora tax year. These statements will be clearlyidentified as the ‘interim statement’ and the ‘finalstatement’. This is because SLC may be told atdifferent points about your loan repayments fromyour different jobs.•If you are making repayments direct to HMRCthrough the SA system, you will receive astatement in the April following the return date.In other words, if the return date is the end ofJanuary 2010, SLC will issue a statement at theend of April 2010. However, if you are late withyour self-assessment return, you will receiveyour statement at the end of the month thatHMRC let SLC know about your earnings.•If you are outside the UK tax system (forexample, if you live and work abroad), you willreceive a statement shortly after 5 April eachyear. This means statements will arrive sometime after the end of the tax year, and will onlyinclude repayments made up until the end ofthat year.However, if you keep your statement, along withyour P60 and your payslips (which contain detailsof each of your repayments), you can use theseto work out how much you have left to pay. If youhave any questions about your account, or wouldlike help to work out how much you have left topay, visitwww.studentloanrepayment.co.ukorcall SLC on the number shown on page 19.You must make sure that you have your payslipsand customer reference number to hand whenyou contact SLC.

7 Coming to the end of repaying your loan In the last 23 months of repaying your loan youcan swap to repaying by direct debit. SLC will tryto contact you shortly before this time to offer youthis option. However, if you know you are gettingnear this point, you can get in touch with SLC toarrange to repay your balance in this way. You willthen have to pay your direct debit every monthon the agreed date. If you fail to do this SLC mayremove this option and you will have to go back torepaying your loan through PAYE.To find out more about the direct debit scheme gotowww.studentloanrepayment.co.ukIt is important that you keep an eye on yourown repayments so you know when you aredue to ﬁnish repaying or there is a chance thatyou could over repay.Your payslips will give you a regular update ofwhat you are repaying and your P60 form willshow you total repayments in a given year.As SLC do not get this information until after theend of the tax year, it is important that you keephold of them, just as it is important to keep themsafe for tax purposes.When you are near the end of your repayments,SLC will contact you to discuss moving torepaying by direct debit for the last 12–23 months.This is a voluntary scheme which means that youcan opt out of making your repayments throughPAYE and can make agreed direct debits directlyto the SLC. This will ensure that you don’t overrepay your loan, which can happen due to thesystem used.However, if for any reason you default on thisscheme, your payments will revert to PAYE.If you decide not to use this scheme, you willcontinue to repay through PAYE and if you donot monitor your own repayments (throughyour payslips), you may over repay your loan.If you do, this will be refunded to you, plus anyinterest you incurred at the time.Though SLC will do everything they can to makesure that you do not overpay at the end of yourloan, if you have not contacted them to set a dateto stop the repayments or to make alternativerepayment arrangements, you will probablyoverpay. If this happens, you will receive a fullrefund of the overpayments together with interest.SLC will repay interest at the same rate as itis charged to your account and the repaymentwill be tax-free. SLC are continually working onimproving the end of the repayment process.Go towww.studentloanrepayment.co.ukformore information.

8 Moving abroad When you ﬁnish your course you must tell SLCif you are moving abroad.If you do not pay UK tax or you plan to leavethe UK for more than three months after youfinish your course (whether this is temporarilyor because you live in another country), you willmake repayments direct to SLC. You must letSLC know before you leave the UK.If you don’t, SLC can charge penalties on yourloan and where necessary, ask you to repay thefull amount of loan, plus interest and penaltiesin one lump sum.SLC will ask for information about your earningsand give you your monthly repayment scheduleunder your contract with the Secretary of State,the Department for Employment and Learningin Northern Ireland, the Scottish Government orWelsh Ministers.

9 What happens if you don’t make your repayments? By law, you must repay your loan in line withthe contract and the regulations.If you pay UKtax through the PAYE system, you must give SLCthe information they need to arrange repaymentsthrough the tax system. You also need to let themknow about any changes in your circumstances.You will also have to give SLC and HMRC theinformation they ask for, as well as keep records ofyour income.If you fail to provide any of this information, youmay be charged a penalty which will be addedto your loan account and where necessary,asked to repay the full amount of loan, plusinterest and penalties in one lump sum.Employers have a responsibility, by law, to takethe correct amounts of student loan repayments.They may have to pay fines if they do not do this.If you pay UK tax and you receive a self-assessment tax return, you should use this todeclare student loan repayments. You must fill thisform in correctly and return it on time. You mustalso then pay your tax and student loan repaymenton time. If you do not do this, you may have to payinterest and financial penalties. This is becausestudent loans will be treated in the same way astax for the purposes of this form.If you move abroad or are no longer responsiblefor paying UK tax and you fail to make repaymentsthat are due or fail to give SLC the informationthey ask for, you may have to pay penalties.There are three specific instances when thesepenalties may apply.•If you fail to let SLC know that you are goingabroad, you may be charged penalties fornot letting them know about your changein address. You may be charged furtherpenalties if you then do not respond torequests for information.•You may have to pay the costs of any agentswhich SLC employ to ﬁnd you.•If you fail to give SLC full information on youryearly income, your repayments will be basedon an income equal to twice the UK averageearnings.In the end, you may have to repay the total loanin one go.However you repay your loan, if you continue towithhold information that SLC ask for and as aresult you fail to make repayments that are due,they have the right to take legal action to recoveryour debt. This means that SLC can get a courtorder to make you repay the total loan plusinterest and penalties in a single payment.This can be enforced through the courts as acivil debt whether you are in the UK or livingabroad.

10 What to do if you are not satisﬁed ComplaintsIf you are not satisfied about the way yourrepayments are being collected, you shouldcontact SLC. We will be able to give you detailsof our complaints procedures. If, having used thisprocedure, you are still not satisfied, you can haveyour case independently reviewed. Independentreviews are usually dealt with by:•the Student Loans Assessor for servicesprovided by the Student Loans Company;•the Adjudicator for services provided by HMRC;•the Parliamentary Ombudsman for servicesprovided by the Government, such as BIS (fordetails, seewww.ombudsman.org.uk);•the Public Services Ombudsman for NorthernIreland, Scotland or Wales (see the contactdetails below) for services provided byGovernment outside England; or•the Local Government Ombudsman forservices provided by local authorities(seewww.lgo.org.uk).You can contact the Public Services Ombudsmanby going to the websites for the service for therelevant country.For Northern Ireland,go towww.ni-ombudsman.org.uk.For Scotland,go towww.spso.org.uk.For Wales,go towww.ombudsman-wales.org.uk.

AppealsThese are different from complaints. You maybe happy with the way your account has beenhandled but you may feel that a decision aboutyour account (for example, the amount youhave been asked to repay each month) is notcorrect and you want to appeal. As in the case ofcomplaints, SLC has procedures for dealing withappeals and you should follow these. Appealsagainst services provided by the Student LoansCompany are also dealt with by the Student LoansAssessor or by the Welsh Ministers if you receiveyour financial support through Student FinanceWales.In certain circumstances you may consider usingthe legal system (for example, a county court)to sort out your problem. If you want to do this,you should first get independent legal advice (forexample, from a solicitor, a legal advice centre ora Citizens Advice Bureau).

11 Useful contacts If you have further questions, you should call oneof the following numbers depending on whereyou live.England0845 300 5090Northern Ireland0845 600 0662Scotland0845 111 1711Wales0845 602 8845EU0141 243 3570If you want more information about repaymentgo towww.studentloanrepayment.co.ukor call0845 073 8891.If you live in England,you can contact theCustomer Support Centre (CSC) for advice ongeneral issues such as:•repaying your loan;•what financial help is available;•the application process and timetable; and•progress in assessing your application.You can call SLC on0845 300 5090between 8am and 8pm Monday to Fridayand 9am to 5.30pm Saturday and Sunday.(These times may change from time to timeand you can find up-to-date opening hours atwww.direct.gov.uk/studentﬁnance).Or, you can write to:Student Loans Company Limited100 Bothwell StreetGlasgow G2 7JD.If you live in Northern Ireland,you can getinformation about applying for loans from yourStudent Finance NI office. You can find contactdetails for Student Finance NI offices and moreinformation and guidance atwww.studentﬁnanceni.co.uk.If you live in Scotland,you can also getinformation about applying for loans from theStudent Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).You will find details for SAAS atwww.saas.gov.uk.For general questions,call0845 111 1711.Opening hours(From June to October)•8am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday•8am to 4.30pm on Fridays(From November to May)• 8.30am to 5pm from Monday to Thursday• 8.30am to 4.30pm on FridaysThis phone service allows you to get information24 hours a day, seven days a week, by enteringyour SAAS reference number. You will be able toask for:•a copy of your award notice;•information on a current application for fees andliving costs; and•information on a current travel application.If you live in Wales,you can call the bilingualStudent Finance Wales contact centre forgeneral information about student loans. Call0845 602 8845between 8am and 8pm Monday toFriday and between 9am and 1pm on Saturdays.You can also get information about applying forloans from your local authority (LA).You can seea list of LA contacts in Wales atwww.studentﬁnancewales.co.uk.Or, you can visit the Directgov Student Supportwebsite atwww.direct.gov.uk/studentﬁnance.If you live abroad,you should call the EUCustomer Services Team on0141 243 3570.You can also write to them at:EU Customer Services TeamPO Box 89DarlingtonCounty DurhamEnglandUnited Kingdom DL1 9AZ.

Other useful informationEnglandYou can go towww.direct.gov.uk/studentﬁnanceor you canphone Student Finance England on0845 300 5090(textphone0845 604 4434)between 8am and 8pmMonday to Friday, and between 9am and 5.30pmon Saturdays and Sundays.You can order forms and guides in Braille, largeprint or audio by emailing with your name,address, customer reference number alongwith what form and format you require to:[email protected]or you cantelephone0141 243 3686.Please note: the above email address andtelephone number can only deal with requests foralternative formats of forms and guides.

WalesContact your local authority if you want a copyof the following bilingual Student Finance Walesguides.•Student Finance Wales – a guide to financialsupport for higher education students2011/2012•Student Finance Wales – Bridging the Gap – aguide to disabled student allowances in highereducation 2011/2012•Student Finance Wales – Childcare grant andother support for student parents in highereducation – a guide for 2011/2012.You can order a version of these guides in Braille,audio and in large print. These guides are alsoavailable in an electronic format fromwww.studentﬁnancewales.co.uk.

Til Styrelsen for Videregående Uddannelser og UddannelsesstøtteKontoret for Jura og Voksenuddannelsesstøtte, e-mail:[email protected];De kunstneriske og kulturelle uddannelser under Uddannelsesministeriet (RKU) tilslutter sig hermed ændringsforslaget, jf.høring af 9. november om udkast til ændring af SU-loven (Forenkling af udlandsstipendieordningen, udlandslån, m.v.). Vinoterer således med tilfredshed, at forslaget om at harmonisere betingelserne for at opnå udlandsstipendium respekterer voresklare ønske om at videreføre en ordning, der er målrettet et begrænset antal elitære institutioner.Vi tilslutter os herunder lovændringer, der forenkler administration af SU- og udlandsstipendiestøtten, forkortersagsbehandlingstider og indfører en ny adgang for studerende til særlige udlandslån til den del af en studieafgift, somudlandsstipendieordningen ikke dækker.I forlængelse af lovebehandlingen vil vi tage kontakt til Styrelsen med ønsker til enkelte ændringer i deinstitutioner/uddannelser, der i dag er opført på udlandsstipendielisten for kunstneriske og kulturelle uddannelser.Med venlig hilsenLene Dammand Lund, rektorRKU-formandFra:Marianne Gjevert Petersen [mailto:[email protected]]Sendt:9. november 2012 11:06Til:Akademikernes Centralorganisation; SU-ankenævn postkasse; Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (EVA);[email protected];[email protected];Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening; Dansk Erhverv; Dansk Industri; Danske Erhvervsskoler - Lederne; DanskeHandicaporganisationer;[email protected];Danske Studerendes Fællesråd; Danske Universiteter; Datatilsynet;Det Centrale Handicapråd;[email protected];Finansrådet;[email protected];FTF;Ingeniørforeningen;[email protected];Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen; Kristoffer Nilsson; Landsorganisationen iDanmark; Lærerstuderendes Landskreds;[email protected];V-VUS - Udland; ProfessionshøjskolernesRektorkollegium;[email protected];Torben Holm;[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];Berit MaleneKrøyer Rasmussen;[email protected];U-UI - enhedspostkasse; V-VUS - SU-RaadetEmne:Høring over udkast til ændring af SU-loven (Forenkling af udlandsstipendieordningen, udlandslån, m.v.)Styrelsen for Videregående Uddannelser og Uddannelsesstøtte sender hermed udkast til forslag til lov om ændring aflov om statens uddannelsesstøtte (SU-loven)Vedlagt er- Høringsbrev- Høringsliste- Lovudkast

Kære MarianneUI har følgende bemærkninger til udkast til forslag til ændring af SU-loven:UI finder det positivt, at klagebestemmelserne til Ankenævnet for Uddannelsesstøtten f.s.a. afgørelser truffet efterafsnit I a bliver præciseret med dette lovforslag, jf. den nye bestemmelse med § 46 i.I de almindelige bemærkninger, 2.1. Baggrund, står følgende sætning i næstsidste afsnit. ”Regler omstudieaktivitetskontrol afventer beslutning om de tilsvarende regler ved studier i Danmark”. Vi foreslår, at dennesætning udfoldes mere, fx ved at oplyse, hvem der skal træffe denne beslutning, og hvornår den forventes atkomme.UI er i øvrigt opmærksom på, at lovforslaget berører bestemmelser i SU-loven, som også berøres i følgeloven til dennye anekenævnslov, jf. lovforslag nr. L 91.Mvh Gertie____________________________

Gertie Lund

ChefkonsulentUniversitetsjuraDirekte telefon: + 45 723 18619E-mail:[email protected]

Fra:Marianne Gjevert PetersenSendt:9. november 2012 11:06Til:Akademikernes Centralorganisation; SU-ankenævn postkasse; Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (EVA);[email protected];[email protected];Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening; Dansk Erhverv; Dansk Industri; Danske Erhvervsskoler - Lederne; DanskeHandicaporganisationer;[email protected];Danske Studerendes Fællesråd; Danske Universiteter; Datatilsynet;Det Centrale Handicapråd;[email protected];Finansrådet;[email protected];FTF;Ingeniørforeningen;[email protected];Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen; Kristoffer Nilsson; Landsorganisationen iDanmark; Lærerstuderendes Landskreds;[email protected];V-VUS - Udland; ProfessionshøjskolernesRektorkollegium;[email protected];Torben Holm;[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];Berit MaleneKrøyer Rasmussen;[email protected];U-UI - enhedspostkasse; V-VUS - SU-RaadetEmne:Høring over udkast til ændring af SU-loven (Forenkling af udlandsstipendieordningen, udlandslån, m.v.)Styrelsen for Videregående Uddannelser og Uddannelsesstøtte sender hermed udkast til forslag til lov om ændring aflov om statens uddannelsesstøtte (SU-loven)1

Gertie Lund

Ministeriet for Forskning, Innovation

og Videregående Uddannelser