YOU HAVE YOUR SAY

EVERY week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our report about how you could help your children avoid a student debt mountain:

HOW TO AVOID THE STUDENT DEBT DISASTER Money Mail, July 26, 2017

YOU’RE better off saving for a home and joining the real world. If you want a degree then do one with the Open University. Parents who send their children to university are loading them with a lifetime of debt with no guarantee of a good job at the end of it.

H.T., Northampton

THE whole system is wrong. Not only do students leave with mountains of debt, but it falls to the taxpayer after 30 years if the person doesn’t pay it off by then.

D.E., Edinburgh

IT’S totally different in France. My brother went to Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. It’s not only free; the university pays students €1,600 (£1,430) a month.

D.L., Paris

ONE couple I met in the U.S., both of whom were doctors, finished their studies $325,000 (£246,000) in debt. Unless the degree is essential, I’d think twice.

H.N., London

IT’S easy to criticise the system, but my son wouldn’t be where he is today without a degree. He has a good job and so do his friends. Yes, it can be a waste if you study a subject employers don’t rate, but it is invaluable in areas such as finance or medicine.

T.W., Coventry

PEOPLE say student debt is not like real debt, such as overdrafts or credit cards, but it is still a huge psychological burden. They often get criticised, but I do think young people have it hard.

F.R., Manchester

I WISH I’d been to university. It wasn’t something a lot of people could afford when I was young. Yes, you leave with debt but at least today you have the choice.

D.D., London

EVERYONE says, ‘don’t go to university and earn £21,000 a year, you can get much more if you become a plumber’. But we can’t all be plumbers, can we? There are jobs out there that don’t pay much, but are important and need skilled people to do them.

L.T., London