Page 4 | Government stuffing young people again, student loans

fallfallfall · 24/02/2022 19:40

probably the whole "system" needs a make over. if the future is a ba for entry to work then basic ba's should be covered then universities can focus on ma and phd's.
excellent trades colleges need to be promoted just like oxford is . and lastly if younger people will be in education till past 20 learning how to read at 4 is not necessary.
honestly a group of mn's could fix this up.

Newmumatlast · 24/02/2022 19:41

@Binjob118

Great day to bury the news that from next year student loans will be repayed over 40 years instead of 30. This makes a massive difference. Hate this government and Tony bloody Blair for stopping free tuition. Of course, won't affect all the rich kids who never take out the loan. This on top of impossibility of young people ever being able to buy a home makes me want to scream. Totally screwed. Certainly don't think IABU!!

To be honest I dont think that is unfair. Why should the loan not be repaid. I repaid mine. I get that you have interest etc to pay but if it is taking that long to repay it suggests income is low and repayments low. I do think people know when going to uni what they are up against. I don't disagree that it's frustrating that previous generations were uni educated for free but that unfortunately isnt the case now and we know what we are signing up to and benefit from our education so why not repay?

worriedatthemoment · 24/02/2022 19:43

@fallfallfall the usa you can get lots of scholarships etc which you don't get here
Anyone who thinks this is fair hasn't looked into it , many basic jobs want a degree etc now so youngsters going and doing that will get penalised many won't have huge paying jobs , they will just be middle earners trying to get by
Plus the huge earners will apparently benefit from this - surprise surprise , let see if labour/ lib dem when the time comes pledge to address this

Onionpatch · 24/02/2022 19:45

Ironicly the system we have is students who do 'useful degrees' that earn enough pay for their own education and students who do not do useful degrees and dont earn much have their loan written off and the tax payer pays. Which is sort of the reverse of what we would want.. apparently we are heading for quite a big problem soon as all those loans start to get written off . We sort of pushed the education debt of tge last 20 years or so onto the next generation on tax payers.

blacksax · 24/02/2022 19:47

@ShinyMe

I work with students, and the vast majority of the ones I support will never earn enough to repay whether the threshold is 25K or 27K. I'm a graduate from 25 years ago and will be very unlikely to ever repay mine. I can't get massively worked up about this, I honestly can't see it making a big difference to my students.

The thing that will affect my students is the requirement to have passed maths and english. I have a lot of students on Access courses who are doing GCSE maths alongside a level 3 access course, and applying for uni, and it's going to really affect them if they then don't pass their maths and have to defer uni for another year.

Sorry to say this, but perhaps they just aren't intelligent enough to go to university.

worriedatthemoment · 24/02/2022 19:48

Thing is i know a fair few 20-21 year olds around here who left school pr maybe college at 16-18 and have never worked and don't intend to, yet people have no objection with them getting thousands every year which won't get paid back ever not even in taxes

2redcats · 24/02/2022 19:48

Successive governments just like mucking around with the student loans system so they can claim either they are making things better for students or they are saving the tax payer money depending on what they think most people want to hear that minute.

I have one plan loan from 2001-2004, cancelled when I'm 65 (44 years after I started repayment), then I have a second plan one loan from 2007 which will be cancelled when I'm 50 (after 25 years). No idea how much they are now.

I just hope students now are told the truth, there is no point working through uni if it impacts your grades or experience as there is no benefit to being less in debt. You pay the same tax anyway and the government can and will change the rules at any time.

SeasonFinale · 24/02/2022 19:48

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-education-policy-statement-and-reform

There you go. There is the actual consultation on some of the other reforms if you want your opinions heard.

leopooh · 24/02/2022 19:50

Why are so many graduates not earning enough currently to pay the loans back?

Kazzyhoward · 24/02/2022 19:50

@mudgetastic

If students do go on to earn more they will pay more in taxes anyways so it's a double tax, to give the country skilled people

So why is there not a comparable loan scheme for trades and manually skilled jobs, then? Many manual jobs pay more than office jobs, so it's crazy to charge tens of thousands for someone sat in an office, but not for a qualified heating engineer or train driver, earning similar if not more.

takeasadsongandmakeitbetter · 24/02/2022 19:52

As someone with a very good degree which is used and has benefited me hugely
I am more than happy to repay my student loans
What I am not happy with is the absolutely extortionate interest charged by the student loan companies and chug over my repayment is almost double what I borrowed, I would happily make overpayment to repay if it wasn't for the interest.
Huger education should be affordable and achievable for all- loans do allow this but selling on debt to companies which profit outrageously is not helping the 'average Joe taxpayer' only the wanky fucking tories and their rich pals.
As per half the people on this thread are turning on those who have worked hard for a better life rather than those who are profiting as a result!!

Kazzyhoward · 24/02/2022 19:53

It's also time that there was differential charging between different Unis and different courses. Makes no sense that it costs the same to get a Maths degree at Cambridge and a Soap Study degree at Bogtown Uni (ex poly). Courses with primarily online content should also be cheaper as there isn't the cost of lecture theatres nor laboratories etc.

titchy · 24/02/2022 19:54

@leopooh

Why are so many graduates not earning enough currently to pay the loans back?

The majority do earn enough to pay some back though. Nurses and teachers will only just be eligible - increase their pay would help. Biggest problem (which is something the Gov has at least addressed) is that plan 2 loan interest is RPI plus 3% - so potentially a 10% rate. That's the main reason most won't pay the lot back.

Kazzyhoward · 24/02/2022 19:54

@leopooh

It's not in a vacuum, young people face

higher costs for education
higher taxes
less generous pensions
higher house prices
older state pension age despite life expectancy not increasing
wage depression
and the NHS won't be free for them in 30 yrs time with free prescriptions at 60.

Yes indeed. Younger people, especially middle earners are really being screwed in so many ways.

titchy · 24/02/2022 19:55

@Kazzyhoward

It's also time that there was differential charging between different Unis and different courses. Makes no sense that it costs the same to get a Maths degree at Cambridge and a Soap Study degree at Bogtown Uni (ex poly). Courses with primarily online content should also be cheaper as there isn't the cost of lecture theatres nor laboratories etc.

Online delivery done properly is very resource intensive.

Regardless of that, students on such courses can't access maintenance so their loan repayment unlikely to be an issue.

Disgruntledpelicanlady · 24/02/2022 19:57

I have around 50k student loan debt as I did post graduate courses too.
I'm charged more interest than I pay a month so the amount only rises. It doesn't seem to work as a system when I can't actually pay anything off it.
And my degrees are directly related to my job which is in a statutory service (education) so I'd like to think not a waste of time.

leopooh · 24/02/2022 19:57

@titchy but why only some of it? That's one of the reason we have this action because not enough people who took out loans in the last 20 yrs or so have paid enough back.

worriedatthemoment · 24/02/2022 19:58

I think i may be encouraging my son to do his course then go abroad and emigrate with the degree as they will just be screwed in this country
No issue with paying a loan. Back but we have one of the highest fees , extortionate interest
Its £30000 for 3 years just for the course , let alone the maintenance loan you need to live.
Yet we pay many people to never work and never contribute and many defend this

neesbees · 24/02/2022 19:58

Ohdearthatwasntgreatwasit
Yes, courses are just not good degrees and unis can be huge money making machines.. BUT you state that if students are not academic enough to pass maths at the first sitting they are not uni material
??
Oh, so I did not pass my maths, ( many moons ago) but got a professional degree with ease and a post grad. Found the academia of uni super easy as it was suited to my abilities.
Am able but only in the non maths subjects. You do know that brains can be predisposed this way?? We are not all nt . Educate yourself.

leopooh · 24/02/2022 19:58

I have around 50k student loan debt as I did post graduate courses too.
I'm charged more interest than I pay a month so the amount only rises. It doesn't seem to work as a system when I can't actually pay anything off it.

Good point about how much the actual cost is now. I think I paid 2-3k a year

worriedatthemoment · 24/02/2022 19:58

@leopooh read the post above and you will see why

2redcats · 24/02/2022 19:59

Many 18 year old go to university for the experience rather than the course. And yes it's expensive but pretty much a once in a lifetime thing. The quality of provision at unis now is so much better than when I was an undergraduate 20 years ago. We didn't have nice housing with security on call 24/7 or a counselling service, or the levels of societies and trips that there are now as standard because universities have to work hard to attract students now they are businesses.

leopooh · 24/02/2022 20:00

@worriedatthemoment my point is also the issue we have with wages & why they are so crap

titchy · 24/02/2022 20:03

[quote leopooh]@titchy but why only some of it? That's one of the reason we have this action because not enough people who took out loans in the last 20 yrs or so have paid enough back. [/quote]
I said why - low wages such as nursing and teaching and extortionate interest rates. If you had £50k on a credit card charging 10% pa interest and you only paid back the minimum set by the card company how long would it take you to pay back?

jgw1 · 24/02/2022 20:04

[quote leopooh]@worriedatthemoment my point is also the issue we have with wages & why they are so crap [/quote]
That's easy.
It is more important that the rich get richer, than spreading out wealth.