Imperial Party forum

thomas davison

Thousands of EU students fail to repay loans
Thousands of foreign students who have borrowed British taxpayers' money to study at universities in England are failing to repay their loans.

The outstanding debt owed by EU student loan borrowers at the end of 2009/10 was �47.4 million
By Julie Henry, Education Correspondent
5:59PM GMT 21 Jan 2012
19 Comments
Official figures show that 45 per cent of students from European Union countries who were liable to start repaying loans had disappeared or were in arrears as of last April.

The findings will raise concerns that many of the students, who qualify for subsidised Government loans to cover the cost of tuition fees, could effectively gain a degree for free.

By contrast, only two per cent of UK students who were eligible to start repayments had disappeared or were in arrears. Many more had been permitted to defer their repayments because their salaries were below a set threshold.

Many of the EU students had returned to their home countries and either failed to inform the Student Loan Company (SLC) of their whereabouts or let their repayments drop.

The total outstanding debt liable to be repaid by EU borrowers at the end of 2009/10 was �47.4 million, according to the Department for Business (BIS), which published the figures.

If the thousands of students missing or in arrears never pay, more than �20 million would be lost to the Treasury.

Among the foreign non-payers, three-quarters have been assessed in the category "Not currently repaying � further information required to establish correct repayment status", suggesting that the SLC has lost track of them.

The amount EU students are entitled to borrow will increase sharply this year when tuition fees at English universities increase to �9,000 a year, raising concerns that taxpayers' money will soon be "haemorrhaging" to Europe as unpaid debts mount.

Bahram Bekhradnia, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said that non-repayment by overseas students was "inherent in the system."

"Many EU students will never pay back their loans. We were never going to be able to recover loan debts from EU students to the same level as domestic students.

"It is inherent in the system. Presumably to identify who these students are and try to sue them would be logistically very difficult, and the cost would be huge."

The SLC has powers to deduct money directly from the wages of graduates who find jobs in Britain, but for graduates who live and work overseas it is forced to rely on their co-operation in giving up-to-date information about their earnings and making their own arrangements to pay.

Graduates are warned that non-payment can mean a penalty charge or a demand that the loan is repaid in one lump sum. Officials can obtain judgments in British courts � which are enforced by those in other EU countries � to chase debts, but such action is rare.

Figures from Universities UK, the vice-chancellors' group, show that EU students account for one-in-20 of the total number of undergraduates and postgraduates in UK institutions.

Is our government mad, chase these students or bill their governments, better still send our students to their country and dont pay either.
And while your thinking about how to get the money back STOP ALL FOREIGNER STUDENTS NOW.

2Anne · Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 399 Location: Norfolk

Its perfectly obvious that foreign students ie EU,will push off back to their own countries on graduation and never repay a bean of loans given to them.
I just wonder if all the civil servants in this country sorting out the loan details are all very low IQ as its blatantly plain what would happen.
This country is being bled dry by foreigners. Its welfare,unemployment benefit,NHS,education and now student loans.
I heard on the radio today that the NHS is having to triple the money it puts into curing parasites as so many people settling in the UK have elephantiasis,bilharzia,guinea worm and other filthy diseases. Of course the British taxpayer will pick up the tab for these bozos.
Nice one Camerloon and friends.

Athelstan I · Guest