Over half of those with a student loan say if they had the chance again, they would not borrow money for their further education.
An extensive poll conducted for the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee inquiry into student finance found 92% of respondents believe the interest and repayment terms attached to their loans are unreasonable. That goes up to 95% for the Plan 2 cohort.
Some eight in 10 also said repaying the loan was much worse than they expected, and 70% felt the loan was having a material impact on their financial planning for the future.
When asked if they would take out a loan again knowing what they know now some 51% said no, and just 21% said yes!
The committee chair, Dame Meg Hillier (pictured), recognised the scale of frustration and acknowledged the “upset is powerful”.
NUS vice-president Alex Stanley said governments have repeatedly changed the terms, in a way that no bank could do legally, effectively making conditions worse. His worry is the loans are now freezing the future for many graduates.
The first hearing of the inquiry takes place on 2 June.
