Debt Help News: Emergency student help reaches £3m

07/01/2010

Students in Liverpool have received over £3 million in emergency financial help over the past two years.

As well as the emergency funding, students are already graduating with loans to pay back and an average debt of between £19,000-£24,000.

These figures are expected to rise as funding to universities is cut, a senior university official told local paper, the Liverpool Daily Post.

The government's planned removal of the £3,000 tuition fee cap will also push up student debt.

Despite this, the percentage of young people in higher education in Liverpool has risen from 27.7 per cent in 2003 to 31.7 per cent.

Professor Bill Chambers, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Liverpool Hope University, explained to the newspaper that Liverpool's high levels of student debt were due to the city incorporating large areas of deprivation which increase demand on hardship funds.

Liverpool has three universities: University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Hope University.

EuroDebt director Kevin Still commented: "Our concern is that many graduates are starting working life with a large debt burden which then grows as they take on more financial commitments.

"We see many people seeking debt help or starting Debt Management Plans in their thirties where the debt relates to activities in their early twenties.

"I don’t think Liverpool is alone, this is a national problem that is going to get worse."

Tags; Recent Graduate Debt,

Regional Debt Advice; Debt Advice Liverpool,

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