One of our tenants was, the other day, lamenting the fact that he will leave University with £50,000 worth of debt and will probably be in one of our studio flats for many years to come!
I’ve never understood the rationale for making students take out loans to study. We live in a service orientated country where manufacturing and agriculture has been in decline for many years (we haven’t fed ourselves for decades). As a mature, developed economy we’ve moved brilliantly towards providing services to the world (Financial & Creative), but student loans are a barrier to developing the expertise required to carry on doing so. Taking on a debt of £50,000 to get a degree is going to make many think twice about going for further education. And that’s happening!
A “service” country by definition requires an educated population to maintain a comparative advantage over anybody else. If we’re dumber – we’re not going to get the business. SO WHY MAKE THE NEXT GENERATION DUMBER???
The Government(s) seem to want to reduce their outgoings across the board, but a generation that will statistically make less money (and therefor pay less tax) is mind-numbingly short-sighted.
You’d imagine that it would be the Conservatives that would do away with free Universities but it was actually Tony Blair and Labour. (Who went to Oxford for free). And the charges have incrementally become increasingly punitive.
Now that the student debt is a fair chunk (£12 Billion), it’s the Conservatives who have sold that debt off to the bankers whilst patting themselves on the back for a stitch up well done.
These Bankers are the loan/debt Bankers that almost ruined this country in 2008 and their only mission (whatever the Government says) is to extract maximum returns from the students. It’s the thin end of the wedge, slight of hand politics, that is mildly revolting, and that leaves our poor students holding the bag!
Economics Manufacturing
Econowatch – UK can’t feed itself
Which Student Debt
UCAS Applications Down
Telegraph – Selling Student Debt
Awesome post, thanks for sharing!
I am constantly browsing online for articles that can benefit me. Thx!