Cost-of-living crisis forgotten
Students are suffering from a cost-of-living crisis as much as the rest of the population yet they have been forgotten by policymakers. While fees have been frozen at £9,250, student maintenance loans have risen by just 2.5% in 2024/25 after a derisory 2.8% in 2023/24, which is well below the current rate of inflation.
High interest rates
Interest rates on Plan 2 student loans are now running at a record 7.9%, which is well above the rate at which governments can borrow. High interest rates front-load student debt and that means that students will take longer to pay back their loans.
40-year loan term
From September 2023/24, student loans now run for 40 YEARS for new students. It means that many new students will be in their 60s before the loan term ends.
Wealthiest students are not even in the system
We have proved that the current student loan system is not fair intra-generationally with our research report, entitled “Escape of the Wealthy”, which shows that the richest 10% of students pay their fees upfront so escape up to the student finance system completely.
Education should be a public good
We believe that: higher education is a public good; we already have a progressive tax system in which the more a person earns, the more they pay. There is an alternative, as outlined by Dr Kevin Albertson, Professor of Economics. We urge you to read it.
The marketisation of higher education is a myth
The higher education sector is intent on continuing to feed off students by calling for higher fees with little regard to how repayment rates affect graduates, especially during a cost-of-living crisis. The 9% repayment rate needs to be addressed as does the previous government’s decision to lower the threshold of repayment for some students to £25,000, thereby pulling low-earning graduates into repayment sooner.