| After all the late night partying of university, what is the | | | | Beginning in the April after you graduate, 9% of all your |
| one major hang over that most students are | | | | earnings above £15,000 will be taken to |
| complaining about when its all over and | | | | repay the loans. The interest is also quite preferable. |
| they’ve graduated? The | | | | While this seems to be a fairly gentle way of repaying |
| answer is student debt. Student debt levels continue to | | | | student loans, it should be remembered that these not |
| rise every year as banks and other lenders throw | | | | the only debts that students have. Student overdrafts |
| more and more credit their way while they are still | | | | of up to £2,000, which are interest free, |
| studying. It seems as if the banks have plenty of faith | | | | are now fairly standard practice. Almost every student |
| in graduates being able to pay back the loans, and | | | | will be given one when they open a student bank |
| most graduates would confirm this. What is causing | | | | account and it’s rare to find |
| graduates stress is not toe overall levels of debt they | | | | a student who hasn’t spent it |
| have racked up while studying, which still averages | | | | all. |
| under £15,000, but the fact that they have | | | | Then there are credit cards and store cards, which |
| to pay such a high proportion of their new wages in | | | | are increasingly easy to get your hands on. Add to this |
| debt servicing. | | | | the expenses of moving home when you graduate, |
| Graduation and the start of your working life are | | | | starting a new job, getting a new place to live, and its |
| supposed to be a time of relative prosperity and the | | | | no wonder that most graduates feel every bit as |
| privations and economies of the student years should | | | | financially constrained as when they were still studying. |
| finally be over. However, more and more graduates | | | | There are graduate loans available however which |
| are reporting that they have to pay so much in loan | | | | can be used to ease your way into working life. These |
| repayments that they are just as badly off as when | | | | offer postponed repayment terms so you have some |
| they are students. | | | | time before you have to start repaying them all. The |
| For example, a huge proportion of student debt is | | | | interest rates are generally pretty favourable and |
| made up of government sponsored student loans, | | | | combined with the repayment holiday, which might be |
| which come from the Student Loan Company. The | | | | up to two years from graduation, you can really ease |
| repayment rules for these loans are quite lenient. | | | | your way into working life. |