Student Debt in the Future:

With typical final-year student's debt between £8,000 - £12,500 a mix of Student loans, bank overdrafts and commercial credit cards how will these figures fare for students starting courses in September 2006 and what will this mean for students from poor backgrounds?

The National Audit Office has warned the government that it will miss its target of getting 50% of under-30's into university by 2010 unless it provides more help for lower income students. But of course university is not and nor will ever be 100% subsidised, but as ministers seek to make further education more accessible considerations must be cast to the further cost of university including living cost and living expenses.

With student expenditure rising in line with rising house prices (relative to rental costs), the abolition of student grants with a great focus on tuition fees and a changing trend among students that sees them spending a great deal of time and money socialising outside of university. It appears that students have a great deal more distraction; from low cost airlines encouraging weekend breaks away to the latest “must have” mp3 player or pair of shoes. Students are changing, and as expenditure rises so to does the level of debt accrued.

Naively there appears to be an assumption that students, having attended university, will automatically step into highly paid jobs, therefore finding a way to pay off their excessive debt. Unfortunately reality indicates that this simply isn't the case an many graduates have difficulty in finding any immediate work, except for low paid agency work, often outside their field of interest and expertise. This results in the student debt being dragged around for several years involving a great amount of stress and an inability to more on in life.

But how do the students feel about their debt?
Research conducted by the National Centre for Social Research and the Institute for Employment Studies for the Department for Education and Skills found that One in 10 students said money worries led them to consider quitting their courses while Six out of 10 students said 'financial difficulties' had affected their grades.

But it's not just those from poorer background who struggle with the cost of university, financial hardship affects students from a wide range of backgrounds, not least with the overhaul of tuition fee for students starting courses in 2006.

Assuming gloomy statistics do not dissuade students from attending university it is now more important than ever to instill a notion of financial awareness to both new and existing students or the problem of debt is only going to spiral out of control. Ok, so we cannot cure all ills, but we can certainly make a start.

We have a number of articles and features on managing debt, what financial help is available to you and how to manage your finances accessible from the homepage so be sure to check them out.

info@clearstudentdebt.co.uk

Why the Adverts?