Bad and getting worse: for students like me, the loan system is the disaster that never ends | Rohan Sathyamoorthy

"As someone who receives close to the maximum student loan from the government each year, I try my best not to think too hard about the crushing financial burden I am going to carry into my postgrad years. After all, for those of us who need a degree to enter their field of employment and don't have the family finances to sail us through, it doesn't matter how unfair the system becomes: student loans are a trap we have little choice but to fall into."

"Almost 6 million people on plan 2 loans, which were taken out by students from England who started university between September 2012 and July 2023, and students from Wales who have started since September 2012, will now be facing higher repayments after Reeves took the decision to freeze the salary threshold until 2030. The change has tapped into a mounting frustration that it is those already struggling who end up footing the bill, while those with the broadest shoulders waltz away scot-free."

"The myth that was constantly drilled into me growing up that anything is possible if you work hard enough once again finds itself faced with the ugly realities of modern Britain. It's not as if students were lacking bad news before this; thanks to AI, entry-level job opportunities are rapidly disappearing, with hundreds of applicants for a single role now commonplace. Annual increases in England in tuition fees in line with inflation, along with soaring rents across major cities, are already stacking up the immediate costs of university."

Many students receive near-maximum government loans and face crushing financial burdens entering postgraduate years. For students without family financial support, student loans function as an unavoidable trap. Freezing the salary repayment threshold until 2030 raises repayments for almost six million Plan 2 borrowers who started university between 2012 and 2023 in England and Wales. The policy increases frustration that those already struggling shoulder more cost while wealthier individuals avoid impact. AI-driven reductions in entry-level jobs, inflation-linked tuition increases, and soaring city rents compound immediate and long-term costs. University decisions hinge on upfront costs, long-term debt, and future job prospects.

Read at www.theguardian.com