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Debt - Student Debt - 29/04/2008

The rising cost of university and necessity of high student loans was thought to be putting off potential students from getting a degree. As costs increase and people worry about debt more, many assumed that we would see less people entering university education as a result.

However, according to new statistics, this is not the case. Record numbers of school leavers intend on continuing to university and are not put off by the prospect of borrowing large amounts.

The Sutton Trust education charity conducted a poll which found that 39 per cent of 11 to 16n years olds thought that they were “very likely” to attend university and 34 percent said that they were “fairly likely” to go on to university education.

The combined figures show that 73 per cent of pupils expect to attend university. These results show a small but significant improvement on last years poll which revealed that 71 per cent of pupils believed they were ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ likely to attend university.

When questioned about worries on student debt, the numbers had changed dramatically since last year. In last years survey, 20 per cent of those questioned were put off by the prospect of student debt, while the most recent figures show that only 13% were worried by student debt.

Although the results sound promising, only 40 per cent of young people enrolled in university this year, down from last year. Sir Peter, head of the Sutton Trust believes that debt worries from poorer families account for the large gap between those who aspire to go to university and those who actually enrol.

“While it is encouraging that three quarters of young people aspire to university, less than half that number currently end up in higher education and those from poorer families are the least likely to progress” Says Sir Peter.