The British government has announced an increase equivalent to about $800-million in financial support for students at universities in England. Under the changes, which will take effect in 2008, the family-income threshold for both full and partial support has been raised, and the minister responsible for higher education says that more than 250,000 students will benefit from the changes once they are fully implemented.

The new rules mean that full-time students from families with incomes of up to $50,000 will be able to receive so-called “non-repayable maintenance grants” of $5,650 annually. The previous maximum family-income level for the full aid award was $35,000. The changes mean that 50,000 more students — one third of the total entering higher education in England — will receive the subsidies.

Beginning in 2008, students whose family income is less than $120,000 will also be eligible for some aid. The government said that an additional 100,000 students will eventually benefit from this change.

The announcement was widely hailed. Under controversial legislation passed three years ago, English universities have been permitted to charge tuition of up to $6,000 since the beginning of the 2006-7 academic year, although students can defer payment until they graduate and their income reaches at least $30,000 a year. The president of Universities UK, which represents all British vice chancellors, said in a statement that the money “will tackle head-on any perception that financial barriers make it impossible to go into higher education.”

The president of the National Union of Students, which bitterly opposed the tuition increase, said in a statement that the group was “very pleased” that the government had listened to concerns about student debt. The group said it hoped the increases would mean “that students will feel less pressured to work long hours in low paid jobs to the detriment of their studies.” —Aisha Labi