BBC Reveals Biggest Student Loan Debts

Fri, 25 Mar 2011

Graduates with the 20 largest student debts collectively owe more than £1 million to the Student Loans Company, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information request by the BBC found that the total value of the 20 largest student debts amounts to £1.12 million, while the highest individual student loan debt in England currently stands at a staggering £66,150.

95 per cent of the students carrying those debts were on courses that lasted a minimum of five years and went to institutions based in London, where loan debts are expected to be greater due to higher living costs.

Universities Minister David Willetts said the figures were "unusual", but added that those people were likely to earn a substantial income later on in life, particularly if they were training for professions in law or medicine.

Student debt levels are expected to continue rising after MPs voted to increase tuition fees to £6,000 last December, with some universities permitted to charge up to £9,000 in exceptional circumstances.

The BBC also recently revealed that future students who take out a £39,000 loans for a three-year degree course could find themselves repaying up to £83,000 in cash terms when the government’s new fees system comes into force in September 2012.
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