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Student loans are often the only reason many can afford to even think about going into higher education.
Now the entire student loan system has been declared almost financially unworkable by a group of MPs in charge of scrutinising university policy. The Commons business committee has called for an urgent review of the system just days after he Guardian reported that Vince Cable, the business secretary, had stalled on the sell-off of the student loan book because of fears it would not raise the amount of money predicted.
Part of the problem for many graduates is that they have difficulties finding jobs which pay enough for them to begin paying off their student loan, as some of our commenters have pointed out:
It's the whole idea of 'you can pay it back when you're earning £15k'. I assumed that meant £15k was a low, common salary. Instead, I went into the financial sector on £13k. After three years they upped it to £14,500 but then the credit crunch hit and pay rises were frozen. I looked for other jobs but they would only offer £13-14k. I could have gotten £15,500 cold-calling people to remortgage but I didn't want to (I wouldn't have been any good) and debt collection was also fairly lucrative at £16k+. I applied for more technical positions, which were £16k, and then they slashed the salary to £14,800.
Now they've upped the salary threshold to, what is it - £16k? £20k? Newsflash. Outside of London, such figures are out of the reach of a lot of people. And not just burger flippers.
With many graduates facing still paying off their loans into their 50s, and others never at all, we want to hear from graduates: was your student loan worth it? Did you succeed in getting a job you wouldn't have been able to without your degree? Or are you in the same position as the commenters above, who have been unable to get a job which pays them enough?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. We'll feature the best above the line.
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I would love to earn enough money to pay off my student loan, afford a mortgage etc but sadly after fourteen years employment and two successfull post-graduate degrees later I'm still earning below the threashold.