1. The average cost of a degree is now nearly £20,000. 2. Increased studying and living costs in England and Wales has caused student debt to rise by 31% since 2002....

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3. Top-up fees combined with increases in the cost of living could raise student debt at graduation to as much as £33,708 by 2010.

4. Nearly three quarters of students would have reconsidered their first choice of university if it had demanded a top up fee.

5. The shortfall between the maximum student loan of £3,698 for a student studying in London and the actual cost of living and studying in the capital is nearly £5,000.

6. Tony Blair is one of 45 Labour MPs - soon to be voting on top up fees - who received an Oxford University education during the full grant era.

7. Two thirds of 2003 graduates moved back in with their parents to save money and pay off their debt.

8. Since the elimination of grants, student debt has increased by 544% and now totals over £5 billion.

9. Parents are now paying more than £500 million towards university costs every year.

10. In 1992 only a third of students owed money. Now 90% are in debt.

11. Only 17% of university students are from working class backgrounds (a decrease of 3% in less than two years).

12. Applications to medical school from students in the poorest social groups have decreased by 50% in five years.

13. Poorer students owe 15% more on graduation.

14. 83% of school leavers and further education students worry about the debts they will build up while at university. 75% believe that if student loans were abolished and grants brought back, more people would go to university.

15. Three quarters of working class young people who decide not to pursue higher education cite lack of money and fear of debt as the main reason.

16. 40% of all students now work while studying for an average of 13 hours a week.

17. More than half of lower income students work for an average of 15 hours a week. Nearly half of them are concerned that working is adversely affecting their studies.

18. 57% of students who work do so to cover the cost of basic essentials, 11% are working to cover tuition fees.

19. There has been a fivefold increase in inquires from British students about scholarships to US universities since the government proposed top-up fees.

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