Parents still supporting graduates

26.08.2005 A survey conducted by the Royal Bank of Scotland has shown that as many as 60% of recent graduates do not have financial independence after they graduate. In the survey, 1200 graduates from the class of 2002 were interviewed.

Of these, six out of ten admitted to still relying upon their parents for financial support, four out of ten didn’t earn enough money to live on, and six out of ten were dependent upon their overdraft to spread the cost of living.
It has been estimated that the average student debt of graduates this year is ₤13,501. With the introduction of top-up tuition fees the National Union of Students (NUS) has said this could rise to almost ₤34,000.

The vice-president of the NUS, Hannah Essex, commented that the increasing debt could deter potential students from continuing into higher education; ‘Forcing students into such ridiculous levels of debt is ultimately going to put young people off higher education, which should be accessible to all’.

Confirming the problem of debt, the Liberal Democrat shadow education and skills secretary, Edward Davey commented; ‘Lack of financial independence for young people in this country is a problem that is only set to get worse’.

However, in spite of the high costs of student life, this doesn’t seem to be deterring students from higher education. A report carried out by the Global Higher Education Rankings, showed that Britain had the third-highest participation rate for higher education out of fifteen countries which were compared.