Student loans - Who still paying them 10 years on?

blueisthecolour · 20/01/14 - 19:07

I went to uni between 2000 - 2003 and borrowed a little under £11,000. I just looked at my online balance at it's still £3,800.

I was wondering whether there are any posters here that went to uni at the same time and how much you still have to pay? It was a good 4 years after finishing uni that I was earning enough to pay anything back, i'm wondering whether that was usual or whether i've just been a bit slow.

elliecat · 20/01/14 - 19:25

I went 2003-2006 and am still paying it back, probably will for a long while yet. I have no clue how much I still owe(probably about £14,000) but was paying it back almost straight away but for the first few years it wasn't even covering the interest they were charging.

[Deleted User] · 20/01/14 - 19:26

I started in 2008, all in all my loans were in excess of £20000.

I'm going to be paying it until I die.

Nigel Goodwin · 20/01/14 - 21:48

redrose89 wrote: »

I started in 2008, all in all my loans were in excess of £20000.

I'm going to be paying it until I die.

You won't be doing that (unless you die young

), they are written off after a certain number of years.

Porcupine · 20/01/14 - 21:50

But was it worth it ? Did you end up with the dream 'loadsa money' job ?

[Deleted User] · 20/01/14 - 21:55

redrose89 wrote: »

I started in 2008, all in all my loans were in excess of £20000.

I'm going to be paying it until I die.

I owe around £30k and its only accruing interest. I will be paying it back for the rest of my working life (I went as a mature student so it will get written off around the same time as I retire).

This doesn't bother me in the slightest, I have to say.

My debt will look pitiful to the new generation of students.

[Deleted User] · 20/01/14 - 21:56

Porcupine wrote: »

But was it worth it ? Did you end up with the dream 'loadsa money' job ?

Yes and no (respectively)

Vast_Girth · 20/01/14 - 22:10

I went to uni 1999-2002 and racked up about 11.5k worth of student loan. I took about a year out and then got my first proper job in January 2004. I finally finished paying it off last year, so over 10 years in total, after what I think a better than average earnings trajectory.

Most students getting loans today are never going to pay them off.

Elanor · 20/01/14 - 23:35

I was at uni between 1992 and 1998, and had 4 loans, total of about 6 grand. It was the early days of loans when I also had a maintenance grant and a very small loan! I paid them back for a bit when I was teaching, but now I'm earning less and have been able to defer. I can't imagine I'll ever earn enough now to pay them back - my terms were really good, so I could earn double what I'm earning now before I reach the repayment threshold. I'm also 41, and my repayment terms say they get written off when I reach 50, so it's looking good!

Turnbull2000 · 21/01/14 - 00:15

Finished mine in 2012. Took 11 years to clear.

It's an absolute scandal that the government are charging interest at RPI + 3% on the new phase of student loans. RPI is supposedly no longer a recognised government statistic, with the (lower) CPI now favoured. Yet they use this obsolete measure to essentially punish graduates. It's f*cking appalling.

[Deleted User] · 21/01/14 - 00:17

I finished my main uni course in 1997, with 3 years of loans that were deferred until I earnt enough. Then I did a post grad until 2000. I finish paying that lot off in 3 months.

Thank God.

Early Bird · 21/01/14 - 00:20

still paying mine off....... 10 years later

54321 · 21/01/14 - 00:23

Early Bird wrote: »

still paying mine off....... 10 years later

Me too :-(

hobbleit · 21/01/14 - 00:28

I still haven't started paying mine back and I graduated in 2007.

[Deleted User] · 21/01/14 - 00:40

Nigel Goodwin wrote: »

You won't be doing that (unless you die young ), they are written off after a certain number of years.

It's 25 I believe. At the moment it looks as if it will be written off, no one I know is looking at earning a lot for a long time either I wonder what the percentage of write offs will be.

Hugh Jboobs · 21/01/14 - 00:42

Paid mine off in the first couple of years or so.

[Deleted User] · 21/01/14 - 13:36

I borrowed about £7500, in 2002, I've paid off about £1k

although in all fairness i've only had a decent job for the last two years :P

My manager at my old job (who was annoyingly my age) paid hers off in two years due to the insane wage she somehow fiddled....I've got a couple of mates who paid theirs off, but I doubt i'd do the same, I could think of better uses for £6k :P

[Deleted User] · 21/01/14 - 14:15

I graduated in 1995. It took me about 12 years to clear mine but I did defer making any payments for about 10 years as I was below the income threshold (am I right that you can no longer defer payment if you took out your loan after a certain date?). However, my 3 loans totalled about £3,000 so it wasn't too bad.

elliecat · 21/01/14 - 14:28

Nigel Goodwin wrote: »

You won't be doing that (unless you die young ), they are written off after a certain number of years.

redrose89 wrote: »

It's 25 I believe. At the moment it looks as if it will be written off, no one I know is looking at earning a lot for a long time either I wonder what the percentage of write offs will be.

It depends when you took it out. If it was taken out before before 2006(like mine) then it will be written off when you reach 65, if it was taken out after 2006 it will be written off after 25 years.

blueisthecolour · 21/01/14 - 15:41

If my wages remain at their current level i'm due to have paid it off next September. So that will be 12 years basically after graduating.

It depresses me a bit to think that i've earn't so little despite going to decent uni, but then quite a few of my friends are in similar positions.

Benry_Gale · 21/01/14 - 15:59

Graduated 2011, pay off about £40 a month. Can't see myself ever paying it off due to interest and such; there were no jobs in my field so I'm doing a job I could've got at the age of 18 instead of going to Uni.

Essentially, all I gained from Uni was a £40 a month defecit.

[Deleted User] · 21/01/14 - 16:18

Benry_Gale wrote: »

Graduated 2011, pay off about £40 a month. Can't see myself ever paying it off due to interest and such; there were no jobs in my field so I'm doing a job I could've got at the age of 18 instead of going to Uni.

Essentially, all I gained from Uni was a £40 a month defecit.

It took me 2 years to get a job to earn enough to start paying it off. A lot of my friends, also graduated in 2011 are still in retail jobs because they can't find a job in their field.

Chihiro94 · 21/01/14 - 16:45

I'm currently in the middle of uni, one of the lucky ones to get the increase and will owe around £40k when I'm done. I highly doubt I'll ever pay it off, but then my friends who didn't go aren't exactly in a great position either.

Mark. · 21/01/14 - 17:06

Started uni in 2005 and started paying it off last year.

Not that bothered. Without it, I wouldn't have ultimately ended up with a job that's paying me enough to easily break the repayment threshold.

blueisthecolour · 22/01/14 - 20:02

Mark. wrote: »

Started uni in 2005 and started paying it off last year.

Not that bothered. Without it, I wouldn't have ultimately ended up with a job that's paying me enough to easily break the repayment threshold.

Your repayment threshold is the same as mine right - £15k odd? The national minimum wage would get you close to earning that

Nigel Goodwin · 22/01/14 - 20:17

redrose89 wrote: »

It took me 2 years to get a job to earn enough to start paying it off. A lot of my friends, also graduated in 2011 are still in retail jobs because they can't find a job in their field.

Perhaps they should have done a degree that has job prospects?.

Hey there!

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