The impact of tuition fees amount on mental health over time in British students

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown a relationship between debt and mental health problems in students. This study aimed to examine the effect of differences in tuition fees amount on changes in mental health over time. METHODS: A prospective cohort study followed 390 first-year British students who differed on their tuition fees level at 4 time points across their first 2 years at university. Participants completed measures of global mental health, depression, anxiety, stress, alcohol-related problems at up to four time points in their first two years at university. Mixed-factorial ANOVAs were used to assess the impact of tuition fees amount on changes in scores over time. RESULTS: There was no difference based on fees at Time 1 for anxiety, stress, depression and global mental health. At Time 2, those charged £0-2.9k or £3-4k improved while those charged £8-9k stayed the same. However, this trend reversed by Times 3 and 4. CONCLUSIONS: Undergraduates mental health is partially affected by the level of tuition fees; however, the recent increase in tuition fees does not appear to have had a lasting impact at present.