22% of EU students don't repay student loans

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9948449/EU-students-10-times-more-likely-to-avoid-repaying-loans.html

Sadly this is absolutely inevitable and without leaving the EU and charging ALL foreign students international fees and making them pay up front I don't see what can be done about it.

Another problem is most other EU countries have free or very low cost tuition which means they don't have the mechanisms in place to help the Student Loans Company track down EU students who aren't paying their loan off.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Genocidal

True.

But then again any British student could also just disappear and do the same thing.

Reply 2

mucgoo

We benefit in kind by being able to study in European universities with the near zero fees.

Reply 3

cl_steele

So what? You're telling me in all honesty if you could simply not repay your student loan you wouldn't...?

Reply 4

scrotgrot

Europeans are pretty lucky. Guaranteed bilingual, fluency in up to three or four languages if you're from like Switzerland or Luxembourg. If they can take advantage of our top higher education and not pay for it I think we British might as well just give up.

Reply 5

AnonymousPenguin

I'm surprised the number is this low. These figures imply that a large proportion of EU students stay in the UK and pay taxes.

TBH, the SLC EU team are being entirely useless about this. They should be prosecuting students in the EU with the highest debt left, right and centre. That would produce a sufficient deterrent effect to significantly reduce defaults.

(I am an EU student)

Reply 6

CEKTOP

Original post by scrotgrot

Guaranteed bilingual?
Lol, no, most of them have crappy english tbh.

Reply 7

TobaccoSmoke

Original post by mucgoo

We benefit in kind by being able to study in European universities with the near zero fees.

True in theory. In reality, unless you're fluent in another major European language the choice of courses available that are fully taught in English is extremely limited, especially at the Bachelor level.

Most degrees taught in English in continental Europe tend to be either Business Management or Economics. Anything more specialist is generally taught in the local language.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 8

TobaccoSmoke

Original post by cl_steele

So what? You're telling me in all honesty if you could simply not repay your student loan you wouldn't...?

So you don't feel bitter that you're being taken for a mug by some EU students who feel it is their right to effectively steal from this country?

At the end of the day they know the fees and they make a choice to study here therefore they should be expected to repay their loan.

Reply 9

scrotgrot

Original post by CEKTOP

Guaranteed bilingual?
Lol, no, most of them have crappy english tbh.

We can hardly say much lol

Reply 10

cl_steele

Original post by TobaccoSmoke

I think they're doing exactly what many students here would do if they could noting more nothing less. Why would I feel bitter about them looking out for themselves instead of being saddled with crippling debts, as I said before wouldn't you ditch the debt if you could?

Reply 11

mucgoo

Original post by TobaccoSmoke

It like that for either side. If you can put in the effort to learn a foreign language its an option for us too. Certainly I wonder how many European language course survive when its a perfectly viable and cheap option to go and study in the country relevant with maybe a gap year post A-level in the country to reach the required fluency levels.

Original post by TobaccoSmoke

Tomorrow the papers will have more stories about how loads of people are going to the English language Dutch Uni's.

I'm going to make every effort to max my student loan in the knowledge I'll be unlikely to reach the repayments in 30 years or I might be able to avoid it all together if I end up abroad. Most other UK students will do the same.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 12

TobaccoSmoke

Original post by cl_steele

Because if you work in the UK then it's going to be your tax money paying their loans off.

They're not being saddled with any debt. They know the fees before hand and they make a concious choice to not pay them after completing their studies.

If EU students want to pay lower fees then they should study in their home country or another EU country that has similarly low fees.

To come here to study in the knowledge that they will avoid paying off their loans is effectively theft from the British tax payer.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 13

TobaccoSmoke

Original post by mucgoo

Tomorrow the papers will have more stories about how loads of people are going to the English language Dutch Uni's.

I've looked into degrees taught in English in the Netherlands and my conclusion was that most universities offer a very limited range of courses mostly focused around business management and economics.

The vast majority of subjects are, not surprisingly, taught in Dutch.

Reply 14

cl_steele

Original post by TobaccoSmoke

You're still dodging the question whether you would if you could...
Besides its little different from tax avoidance if its possible not to pay its perfectly fair game if anyone's at fault it's the government for letting it happen.

Reply 15

mucgoo

Original post by TobaccoSmoke

My point is if we choose we could learn Dutch and so study any course while benefiting from the near zero fees subsidized of course by Dutch taxpayers.

The barriers for either side are the same. Europeans learning English or us learning a European language.

Also you can go to Ireland if you wish. They charge about £2-3k from memory and of course it's all in English.

It seems a fair exchange in terms of value.