Could it get any worse for university students? The £9k hike in fees, a housing crisis and a ‘Living Wage’ that’s only available for those aged 25 and over. Now, George Osborne has indicated he wants to freeze the salary threshold that you start paying back student loans at £21k, for five years after 2016.
The threshold will no longer rise in line with average UK earnings, as we were promised. This means that if there was a huge rise in inflation during the next five years, and a £21k wage was suddenly worth the same as a £18k wage now, you would still be paying back your fees at the same rate – despite not actually having any more money. This change will be backdated, affecting anyone who went to university after 2012. The Tories are happy to jump in and make these amendments to fees contracts you signed for years ago, completely undermining the point of a ‘contract’.
The change will affect around two million young borrowers who had to get a loan to pay for uni. Those in lower wage bands will be around £6,000 worse off in the end, whereas high earners could actually benefit by paying off their student loans more quickly.
The government will make £3.2billion from this broken promise – one of (too) many.
Read the Dazed manifesto to see what we are demanding from the Government, and how we want the people in charge to fight for young people.
