How to solve the student debt crisis
England’s student debt is staggering. It comes to £270 billion – that’s larger than the budget for the NHS and two and a half times larger than the education budget. This arsenal of taxpayer-backed cash has seen the creation of 34 new universities just to feed an ever-hungrier mass of undergraduates. It’s forecast that by the late 2040s, this loan balance will reach £500 billion. These loans are not standard financial arrangements. They don’t affect the debtors’ credit ratings, only their mental health when they check their bank balance. Crucially, most loans are also wiped after 30 years from graduation. In order to offset the generous cost of clearing the
