Irish Students To Have Access To UK University Loans From 2012

Fri, 19 Nov 2010

Students from the Republic of Ireland studying in English universities from 2012 will be able to apply for UK government loans to cover the cost of the higher tuition fees that will come into force that year, according to reports.

Irish and other EU students currently pay the same tuition fees as British students and are eligible for tuition loans, but they do not qualify for the maintenance loans offered to help with everyday living costs.

The Student Loans Company has warned that EU graduates from English universities who move abroad and fail to make or maintain loan repayments will have legal action taken against them.

A European Union regulation allows the loan provider to enforce court judgments made in the UK throughout the rest of the EU.

Speaking to the The Irish Times, the company said: "In their final year, borrowers identified as likely to move abroad will be asked to confirm their final destination and required to sign a repayment agreement if their intention is to move abroad."

"Borrowers will be obliged to keep the Student Loans Company informed of their whereabouts but the SLC will use international trace agents to find borrowers if need be." It added that graduates were liable for any costs incurred."

"If an EU borrower persistently refuses to reply to requests for information the SLC will take action in the courts to escalate the whole debt . The borrower will then be subject to existing debt collection arrangements in their own country."
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.