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Mine breached this important threshold in April. But my wife and friends, who graduated around 2007, pretty much all owe more now than they did when they graduated. It's a bit depressing.
anyone else care to share?
Nope 🙂
5. More. Years.... Finished 06, started repaying 08, 13k debt 5k left
But Shirley, unless you go into a decent paying job before your first interest payment is due, everyone will be?
Is it true that the s' loan can be defaulted / annulled if you dont pay it back in an allotted time frame? or is that an urban myth?
Not that it matters this end as I'm fortunate enough not to have one.
Graduated 2002, paid off loans in 2007 or 2008. I only had two loans during my time at Uni though.
Did you start paying it off immediately?
One of my mates was quite cocky that he didn't get collared into repaying it immediately with his first job (he should have done) but soon changed his tune when 3 years later they came knocking.
Yeah, retirement (65) or death.
There was something about leaving to country for 5 years that I think was myth
Just spoke to a colleague and he said that he now owes 11K from a 9K loan when he graduated in 2006.
Spare a thought for all the students who are graduating now with an average of 50K in debt.... 😯
Glad I paid mine off years ago.
My loan's paid off, but I'm already starting to save up so that my 2½ year old daughter has a chance of getting through Uni without a crippling debt.
(edit to clarify - she's not actually started Uni yet 😆 )
Finished uni in 2001 having borrowed c£10400 over the 3 years (plus a large overdraft!), it was 2007 before I was over the repayment threshold and my debt was over £12k by then.
I can't remember which year it was but interest rates went up to 4.8%, I made payments totaling £870 and the interest applied was £850, that was a depressing statement!
Just making regular payments now and mine should be cleared in the next couple of years, I'm already looking forward to the payrise (will likely just increase my overpayments on the mortgage, no matter how much I may dream about diverting it into the toys fund!)
paid off any student loans I hand, only about 4k though, if I remember right around 2007.
Graduated in 2008 (so in the region of £20k).
Paid off somewhere between half and 2/3 I think.
Presume you've been doing something more fun than real work in the meantime if the interest has been racking up?
Graduated in 2008 (good year TINAS) paid it off last April. Quite pleased to be rid of it frankly.
@TINAS yeah I was a self employed musician for 8 years so it's my own fault!
Am surprised at how many of the £3k fees crowd are in this position though. Lots of people spending time in crap jobs and/or on the dole for a bit around the time of the crisis it seems.
I think the stats suggest that the majority of the 9k fees lot will never even dent the capital though. So this thread would look pretty different 5 years hence...
Quite glad to say I got in just as tuition fees went large and as a 'mature' at 21 student I wasn't responsible for paying the £1500 a year they cost.
I did have full loans and was effectively homeless 3 months after the end of my degree though so ended up owing about £13k, needing to find a place to live and a job. Thank god for good mates (one had a house and put me up for a couple of months, another suggested me for a job a few months later). I ended up clearing the loan and overdrafts over the next few years initially very slowly, first job from uni, second job provided a £10k step up and repayments went down increased with it, clearing it a few years later.
I don't envy kids these days without parental sponsorship though, although my ability to earn has been far greater as a result of my degree.
Whilst it is shit, think of It as a tax rather than debt and it's a bit more palatable. Only a bit mind, I don't want to pay any more tax than I have to, and certainly don't envy the current crop coming out owing £1.9m each or whatever it is.
Tax is the right way to think about it, whilst a proper tax at a similar level would maybe be fairer overall, I do like the idea that given enough hard work it can be paid off. And does incentivise people to chose courses with careers ahead of them that will pay better, pay off the debt quickly and ultimately add to the economy and tax income for the exchequer.
Daughter has just graduated - Scottish and Edinburgh Uni, so no tuition fees 🙂
graduated in 2007. c£14k of debt. Will be clear this time next year all things being equal. once gone it will be the equivalent of a gross £6,500 pay rise!
do feel very sorry for any grads coming through now; although they do know what they are getting into. We had a work experience lad come to us. I suggested not going to uni and getting on the job training/the employer to pay for education whilst living at home or renting a cheap place. I think 17-18year olds should think long and hard and also out of the box in order to get the training they NEED to do their preferred role.
Thinking of it as a tax is a sure fire way to ensure there are zero art courses left within a short time. I did a photography / art course determined to be a photographer and in the full knowledge that I'd likely never see a wage close to my peers taking computer programming or opthamology.
I also knew I'd never pay off my loan and apart from the odd very good year, I haent come close.
Technically finished paying it off last year but due to a cock-up by HMRC and the Student Loan Co I'm still paying it off 😕 They can't stop repayments aparently until next April so I'll have to claim it back next year.
£100 a month out of my pay cheque for no reason whatsoever 👿
Know of a few friends who have either paid it off early or have no hope of clearing it 😐
the other downside to thinking of it as a tax is that for the post 2012 cohort, if you earn over £32K you're paying a marginal tax rate of 49%.
But if you earn less than around £60K then you'll not pay off the loan within the 30 years - so you're potentially paying that tax until into your 50s.
Given that the government recently decided it was unfair for anyone to pay 50% income tax (the 150k band), reducing it to 45%, it seems a it harsh that they've also decided that the entire younger generation can suck up a potential 49% graduate tax rate....