UCU response to government plans to sell off student loan rates
27 June 2013
Responding to government plans to sell off student loans, UCU today said the government had to guarantee that people who had been through university would not suddenly be hit with increased or extended repayments.
Danny Alexander announced the plans in his speech* on the government's infrastructure plan.
Just a fortnight ago, secret plans to hike up interest rates on old student loans were revealed. Another option in the 'Project Hero' report was to make the sale of the loan book more popular by using public finances to guarantee returns to private investment. More on that story here.
Increasing the interest rates on loans already taken out would add extra years of repayments for graduates who left university years ago.
UCU president, Simon Renton, said, 'Today's announcement follows hot on the heels of a secret document published two weeks ago which called for repayment rates for graduates to go up. The government must now explain how it expects to achieve the sale of the loan book, who exactly will benefit and guarantee that past and future graduates will not end up losing out financially.
'Following on from news yesterday that student grants are being frozen, money targeted at the very poorest students is disappearing altogether and visa fees are going up, this is more bad news for students.'
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