Debt preys on a third of students

Published on Wednesday 23 April 2008 22:10

THOUSANDS of students in Scotland considered dropping out last year because of financial hardship.

A survey by NUS Scotland showed a third of Scotland's 500,000 students – about 165,000 – may not finish their course because of debt.

James Alexander, the NUS Scotland president, said two-thirds of those came from homes where neither parent went to university. He described scrapping the graduate endowment as a step forward, but nevertheless added a note of caution: "That change will have little impact on the day-to-day life of students and will do nothing to tackle the issue of financial hardship during a student's course.

"Financial hardship, increasing debts and hidden course costs are all huge barriers, which non-traditional students in particular experience," Mr Alexander said. He pointed out that a local income tax would cost students an average of 400 a year extra and called for a minimum income of 7,000 for students for living costs.

Jeremy Purvis, the Liberal Democrats' education spokesman, said students across Scotland were in a state of panic.

He said: "Ministers must stop dragging their feet, heed the will of parliament and take steps towards introducing this minimum income guarantee."