Student debt is on the rise, according to a report released by Parliament. The House of Commons conducted an analysis in May 2009 to see if the median level of personal debt was increasing for students who attended higher education. Citing figures produced by Barclays, NatWest, UNITE and push.co.uk, The report was constructed due to a growing concern that the introduction of higher education loans was affecting student retention levels.
A previous survey into graduate debt by Barclays covered the ten year period between 1994 and 2004. Although it did not cover the last few years when higher education costs have increased rapidly, the survey found the average student debt increased from £3,100 in 1994 to an average of £14,700 in 2004.
More recently, a 2007 survey by Push.co.uk concluded that a student who commenced their university education in 2006/2007 would owe an average of £17,500 upon graduation. By 2007/2008, the median student debt had increased to £21,500. Figures in the most recent 2008 survey were the same.
Figures produced by the Government claimed that those starting higher education in 2006/2007 would have an average debt of £15,000. It was claimed that this was take an average of 11 years to clear, but as long as 16 years for female graduates. The level of student debt for those who started in 2008 was estimated to be £16,000.
The report also looked into the attitudes toward student debt and effects, and found a total of 25% of students stated that they nearly didn't attend university due to the build-up of student debt in 2007/2008. Despite this, as many as 82% of those questioned in 2007/2008 also believe that long term benefits of a university education are worth accumulating student debt for. However, this figure has fallen from 86% from 2004/2005.
Whilst student finances haven't become any more critical to those attending university in recent years, there is evidence to support that those from working class families are more sensitive to financial pressure than those from professional families. As many as 37% of those from families with a routine or manual background were sensitive to growing educational costs, where as only 17% from professional backgrounds held this concern.
A number of students had considering leaving university, although this statistic showed little sign of movement with increasing costs, with a slight drop from 34% in 2004/2005 to 33% in 2007/2008. Although the most commonly cited reason for dropping-out of higher education was financial difficulties, the figure had surprisingly fallen from 31% to 26% over the same timeframe.
The document also reported that the financial pressures of funding a university education has slightly dropped from 60% of those questioned in 2004/2005, compared to 56% in 2007/2008. It is important to note that the majority said the impact was minimal. Just 9% of students said that financial worries had affected their studies a great deal. Reasons cited for difficulties included worry and stress, the need to find part-time employment and the purchase of course material.
A UNITE survey in 2007 also found an increase of student concern about graduating with personal debt. Respondents who said that they were worried about personal debt from attending higher education had risen from 26% in 2006 to 34% in 2007. First year students and those from the lower social classes (39%) were far more likely to fall into the yes group.
On a positive note, the report also noted that as many as 85% of those questioned believed that higher education represented a worthwhile investment in their future.
While student debt has clearly increased over the past decade, whether it's possible to measure the trend between rising higher education costs and attendance remains debatable. Previous statistics released this year noted the amount of students applying for university is increasing despite the increase of UK unemployment figures and the rising cost of education.
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