University Applicants Not Deterred By Credit Crunch

Tue, 20 May 2008

Brits looking to enter higher education by going to university are not being put off by the credit crunch, a university chief has claimed.

Rick Trainor, principal of King's College London and president of Universities UK, said applications for higher education were continuing to grow despite the current economic uncertainty and concerns over growing levels of personal debt among Britain’s young.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mr Trainor said that universities are looking to secure extra funding "by one means or another" which has recently been achieved through the increase in annual tuition fees .

With these fees currently standing at around £3,000 per year, students can now expect to incur debts of £20,000 or more upon completion of a three-year degree course.

Repayments of student loans, which come with a 4.8 per cent interest rate, commence once a student starts to earn more than £15,000 a year.

"Applications have gone up from home students for UK universities so people are not being deterred, they feel it's a good investment and so do we," he added.

The current £3,000 cap on tuition fees has sparked much debate since being introduced nearly two years ago with calls still being made for the fee to be reduced or abolished altogether. The Government said it will review the situation later this year.
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