Student Debt

Student debt refers to money undergraduates and postgraduate students owe because they borrowed to pay for their higher education (HE) expenses, particularly their tuition fees and sometimes their living costs while at university. Most student debt arises from loans provided by the government or from private sources such as banks, taken out by students and/or their families. Tuition fees, alongside student loans used to pay these fees, have been a significant factor in the global expansion of access to HE. More students rely on student loans and borrow larger amounts to pay for their HE compared to previous decades. One of the consequences of funding access through such policies is increasing student loan debt, following the increased availability of loans to cover HE expenses.

In some ...