Don’t make students pay more, says NUS

The National Union of Students (NUS) has made clear that it would not support the introduction of commercial rates on loans taken on by young consumers attending university.

A spokesperson for the union insists that adding to the debt management burden of young Britons by increasing the interest rates on their student loans would be “absolutely unacceptable”.

But there are some commentators who have raised the issue and suggested that making students pay a commercial interest rate of around six per cent on their loans would be beneficial.

“We feel that if we start debating the fact that student loans are linked to inflation, then it throws open the conversation again about commercial interest rates,” the NUS spokesperson commented.

“It is cropping up more and more and is really making us anxious.”

A survey by Push.co.uk last month suggested that the typical student starting their studies this year can expect to have accumulated debts of around £17,500 by the time they graduate.