Over 1.8 million students now owe more than £50,000 in student debt and 61,000 have balances of more than £100,00.
I was fortunate to go to university in the early 2000’s and paid approximately £3,000 per year to attend my three-year degree course. University fees are now up to a maximum of £9,250 per year, meaning some students will have accumulated over £37,000 in student debt just for funding their studying costs and that’s not including the cost of accommodation or rent.
With the average graduate salary in the UK, currently at £33,229 and the earnings limit for when student loans need to be repaid starting at £27,295 it may take a considerable length of time before graduates have repaid their student debt.
I was recently speaking to some school leavers who said they were put off by going to university due to the exhorbitant costs and not having a guarantee of securing a well-paid graduate job.