Fears over 17,000 graduates in North not yet repaying loans

More than 17,000 graduates in the North have yet to start paying off student loans, it has emerged.

Many of the students are said to have put off repaying the debts because their wages are too low.

The SDLP’s Thomas Burns said he feared people who had borrowed large sums to fund their education were now being hit by the rising cost of living.

“I was surprised and disappointed to learn that so many local university graduates are in low paying jobs,” he said.

“I am sure that many of them are questioning whether their course of study was a worthwhile investment.

“I am also sure most of them are feeling the pinch during this time of rocketing heating and energy prices and spiralling food costs.”

Figures obtained from the Department of Employment and Learning by Mr Burns showed 17,031 university graduates have yet to start paying off student loans.

The figures show that 9,757 Northern Ireland students with an ’income contingent loan’ are not repaying the borrowing because their income is below the threshold of £15,000 (€17,729).

The number of Northern Ireland students who have deferred repayments on mortgage style loans because their income level is below the threshold of £25,936 (€30,670) per year is 7,274.

Income-contingent loans replaced mortgage-style loans in the academic year 1998/1999.

Mr Burns said: “In the wider context, these figures suggest to me there is still a major lack of decent employment opportunities locally.

“I suspect that many of these graduates are considering leaving Northern Ireland and will try their luck elsewhere.

“We don’t want to see that, we want our best and brightest young people to stay here and help build a prosperous, shared future.”

He added: “It is no secret that our economy is skewed towards the public sector, where jobs are traditionally lower paid than similar private sector roles. No doubt there is a serious lack of high-value, high-tech, high-end jobs in the local economy and this could take a generation to put right.

“With the ongoing global economic downturn the short-term prospects certainly don’t look good, but we owe it to these young people to make sure they have access to the best possible employment opportunities in the long-term.”