British students face a mountain of debt

London – Rhiannon Muise graduated from Edge Hill University in northwest England last year with a mountain of student debt, which is growing even larger due to surging inflation.

The 21-year-old dance and drama graduate said it will take a “lifetime” to pay back the £45 000 (about R880 000) she owes for tuition fees and living expenses, particularly if she stays within her field, where salaries can be low.

Muise’s plight echoes that of students across Britain, who are already struggling with a cost-ofliving crisis.

Britons heading to university next year face major changes that critics argue will worsen the financial pain.

The pressure is “exhausting, especially for someone in their 20s who has just started thinking about their career”, Muise said.

Her current job as Edge Hill student engagement officer pays below the threshold that activates repayments.

UK graduates shoulder more debt than any other developed country, according to House of Commons Library data.

About 1.5 million students borrow nearly £20 billion in loans every year in England alone.

And on average, graduates of 2020 have amassed £45 000 in debt.

Zeno, a 25-year-old student in London who gave only his first name, said he owes just short of £75 000 for his loans.

Unless he “wins the lottery”, he accepts he will probably be paying the money back from his salary for the next 30 years.

University used to be free in the UK, with means-tested grants for the poorest students to cover living costs.

But after the sector was opened up in the ’90s, numbers surged and, despite protests from student bodies, tuition fees have been gradually introduced in the last decade to help universities meet costs.

With education a devolved matter for the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, different tuition fee arrangements are in place across the UK.

Accommodation and living costs are extra.

In England, undergraduate tuition fees are capped at £9 250 a year for UK and Irish students – up from £3 375 in 2011, when the government cut most ongoing direct public funding. –