By 2010 the government wants half of all under-30s to take a degree - seven times the proportion in the 1960s.

Not many school leavers have a realistic concept of the expense of going to university: a survey by Goldfish says nearly 20% had no clue how much food costs.

A degree improves career and financial prospects in the long-term and graduates are twice as likely to be promoted at work and go on holiday abroad, says the government.

But some now believe that high levels of debt is making access to higher education "exclusive" - and putting many people off.

Is debt discouraging you from studying? What can students do to help themselves? How should the government help? How easy have you found it to pay off your debts after graduating?

This Talking Point has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

We viewed it as much better to save up for something

John, England

When I went to university in 1990, I came from a family that did not live on debt. We viewed it as much better to save up for something, and wait until we could afford it. If it hadn't been for the grant available, I simply couldn't have afforded university, and wouldn't have gone. Without the degree, I'd have been much less useful to our country in my working life.
John, England

After the age of 18, you are supposed to be an adult, free to choose your own path and take full responsibility. What on earth has it got to do with your parents whether you get support or not with further education? Grow up, get on with your lives, make hard choices about investing in education or not, learn to cope with financial pressures and get on with it. Welcome to the real world!
Stephen, UK

I would like to train as a nurse, but the �5,000 will not be enough to support my family. If the government needed nurses that much they would do all they could to help those of us get into the training without worrying about debt. I am in two minds at the moment.
Rachel, UK

If any foreign company offers me money, I'm off

Vish, UK

I graduated with �30k worth of debt, which will take until I am 35 to clear. Don't expect me to be grateful to this country/government for my education. If any foreign company offers me money, I'm off.
Vish, UK

I don't understand the government's obsession with getting 50% of people to study for a degree. The degree is now devalued and commonplace - many graduates will still end up with lowly paid admin jobs that 20 years ago you could've done with a couple of O-levels. They will be in debt until middle age. I would strongly advise young people today to get into a trade or job early. That way you have 3-5 years more work experience and if you're careful no crippling debt when you compare yourself to your peers who carried on to university and got worthless degrees in art history or sociology.
Carol Child, UK

I say bring back the grants and give those poor students a chance to enjoy life - I'd happily pay an extra penny in the pound tax to support them. Better spent on students than on stupid Domes or fountains for Diana.

Anon, UK

Remember - it's not your money

Alex Banks, UK

I graduated with �4,220 debt - I was the last of the grant students and had no tuition fees, but I had a part time bar job and didn't go clubbing three times a week nor did I buy M&S instant meals. I paid my debt in just over 18 months. A word of warning to any students about to go to university - take out whatever overdraft or loan you want, but remember - it's not your money. The bank is throwing that money at you now, but you WILL have to pay that back.
Alex Banks, UK

The people most at risk from debt are those whose degrees were undertaken simply for the university experience

Chris, UK

A university education should place you in a position to effectively deal with the debts which result from it. Like anything else, it is an investment, and if made wisely it will pay off - the people most at risk from debt are those whose degrees were undertaken simply for the university experience or with no real direction. (Incidentally, my university education was wholly funded by loans!).
Chris, UK

Many people are quite prepared to get tens of thousands in debt to buy a car or even hundreds of thousands in debt to buy a house but not a few thousand to get an education which vastly improves the quality of life! Why is this?
Tom, UK

What I object to is having a loan in my name but based on my parent's income. Nowhere else do such crazy rules apply. Parental income often bears little resemblance to parental contribution. Let students stand on their own two feet, give all students access to bigger loans and finally there will be equality of opportunity. Grants based on parental income are not the answer.
Jonathan Rose, England

In less than a month, I'll start my Uni life in Portsmouth. The first thing that'll greet me there is a cheque for over �1,000. I intend to keep hold of that money for as long as I can which is why I have already arranged a job in the local bowling alley. I will still end up in debt, but hopefully not as much as some as I've seen many friends fritter away their loans on CDs and clothes.
Simon Grey, Southampton, UK

I went to university several years ago and within a year was in debt to a level sufficient enough for me to drop out and start work. I want to go back to university but the financial implications make it nearly impossible. Grants should be returned so that students can go without having to worry about living in debt for 10 years after they graduate.
Kobe, Wales

I was forced out of university after year two due to imminent financial disaster

John, England

I am in a similar situation to Kobe from Wales. I was forced out of university after year two due to imminent financial disaster. I am still paying off the student loans. I am completing the degree, however, with the Open University, which allows me to work full time. I could have been helped if the employers of this country were to become more flexible about working hours. If they did, not only would more people be able to go back to studying, buy the rush hour congestion may be relieved as well!
John, England

Like Kobe, I too dropped out of University to get a job. Unfortunately it was in the third year, so I have to work as a temp on abysmal wages, and am still saddled with these debts. I'd like to go back and pick up where I left off, but I find that I'm hampered by the debts accrued from last time, and the extreme reluctance to make an already poor situation much worse. However, to get on well in life one must 'have a career' and to get the career, the 'piece of paper'. So despite my reluctance, I feel obliged to complete my studies, fear of debt or not!
D Jones, UK

If students are in such dire financial trouble, why is it that all the bars and clubs are full every night with them drinking themselves into a stupor? In the real world cutting back on socialising would be the first thing that would happen if you had no money.
Jen Olsen, UK

The average student lives on �20 per week

Jo, UK

Jen Olsen, those students you see in the bar are probably on their monthly night out. The ones you see out are not the same as all students. You will probably also not have noticed that the average student lives on �20 per week. Those bars and clubs will be at their fullest when we get our student loans which is the only time we usually think we have some extra cash to support ourselves. I would like to see you try to survive on �3,400 for a whole year, to cover your rent, bills, food, books and tuition fees (at �1,200 per year).
Jo, UK

Jen, on what planet do you live? Young people need to have some fun in their lives! Students are going to spend the best days of their life working, so give them time to it now. Students don't think about the debt they will have in 10 years time; they spend the money as soon as it arrives on rent, books or food, and whatever is left on luxuries like beer. They get shafted from every direction until they graduate; then it hits them they have to pay over �100 a month for 10 years, which means at least a basic salary of �20,000 just to live and pay back debt! What a great future to look forward to! That's why I spent most of university down the bar!
Peter Finch, England

I became immune to being way over my head in the red

Matt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (ex-UK)

I remember getting my loans at university. I was nervous at the idea of owing people money. I soon became completely immune to being way over my head, out of control, in the red. All students end up doing this and it's hard to lose that attitude. You spend the rest of your life able to ignore heavy debts until it all comes crashing down.
Matt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (ex-UK)

We know from the A-level discussion that young people now work harder than ever before, so presumably they will be able, like I did, to work over 20 hours per week to fund themselves without debt. There should be no shortage of low paid service sector jobs for them to fill.
Stella, UK

To say that it is not discouraging people from studying is ridiculous - neither of my younger brothers went to university because they didn't want the kind of debts I accrued.
Toby, UK

These days it's not about trying not to get into debt, it's about trying to cope with debt. Debt is a massive burden on most students trying to keep studying, which will affect university results.
Maz, UK

f I knew Swedish or Dutch I would go there

James O' Hara, Wales

I just graduated, and managed to get through uni with only 5 grand of debt. The people I know who are in the worst debt are those who blew all their money going out twice a week, and then not bothering to get summer jobs.
Daniel Kirwilliam, UK

It is a major headache. I finished university 5 years ago and still have one year to run to pay back the �500 loan for 4 years of study. This is bad enough but now you can expect twice that as a minimum. I doubt I would go knowing that I would be paying �250 a month for 5 years afterwards.
Mark, UK

I think its disgusting that the UK is the only country in the western world that does nothing to help students. If I knew Swedish or Dutch I would go there for definite because academics are awarded for their achievements and persuaded and funded to go to university. I have worked out that I will get �65 a week from my MAXIMUM LOAN. So if my rent will be 64.50 how am I (or anyone) supposed to survive on 50p a week with no debt. Most of these moaning adults who say we shouldn�t get any debt have either never been to university...or went when it was funded with grants.
James O' Hara, Cardiff, Wales

Stop moaning and get on with it

Olivia MacAuslan, UK

I am so bored with moaning students - I have a fulltime job and study at Birkbeck coll. I am financed by my work. Get a job in the area you wish to study in, in a large company or a government department and then apply for funding. No debts and just as much fun. For goodness sake stop moaning and get on with it.
Olivia MacAuslan, UK

My son is taking a tent to uni.
Eileen, UK

To all you would be students who are worried about debt, my advice would be learn a trade! Become a plumber or a builder or whatever - Presumably you will be fairly smart (or you wouldn't be going to uni now would you...) so it should be a simple process to become proficient in a useful trade, set up your own business and earn some respectable money whilst adding to your local economy which in turn boosts national GDP. Now that's got to be better than working in a call centre for �4.50 per hr whilst struggling to pay back �15,000 surely?
Rob, UK

Its only worth taking a degree in subjects that lead to a professional career like law, medicine, engineering accountancy, dentistry and scientific research. If those careers don't interest you then take a short practical course or learn a trade rather than waste 3 years and vast sums of money on an arts or humanities degree in the attempt to make yourself more employable.
R Sobrany, UK

How short-sighted to you have to be to avoid university because of the fear of getting into debt?

I have undergrad and post-grad degrees, and left university in 1994 with a �10,000 debt.

However, I got a job that I would never have been offered without my degrees, and paid off my debts in 2 years.

After 8 years of working in the city as a result of going to university, �10k no longer seems a lot of money. It pays off when you take a longer term view.

Matt, UK

If I had known how much it would cost in advance, I would have put off studying and worked for a few years first.
Terry Johnson, Oxford, UK

If giving up luxuries is too difficult then getting a part-time job is the answer, find the balance between extra money and not damaging your potential grades. Students - It's time to grow up and not expect hand outs, make the best of a given situation. This is the only way to learn the harsh truth, look at your own lifestyle and make changes to it.
Dan Chang, UK

I think this is truly cruel

Laura, UK

Tuition fees are partly responsible for the problems: �1,075 paid to the Government is �1,075 less financial support the parents can give their child. Good education will bolster the economy, bringing benefits for all - it is only fair that the Government pay for it.
Andrew, UK

I think it is disgusting that we should suffer so much debt for trying to better yourself. My sister has recently finished her degree (2:1) in Geography and wanted to be a teacher. No one will take her on. She cannot get a good job as she is 'over qualified'. Should being able and intelligent mean you have to go without, be in debt and depressed. I think this is truly cruel. I have therefore decided not to go to university as I believe it to be a waste of time and most of all money!
Laura, UK

I have a summer job and am one of those fortunate to be eligible for a grant under our means tested system here in Ireland (which is bad for low-income self-employed and farmers - they're expected to sell off their assets!) I pay no course fees, and even my administration fees (raised 70% this year) are paid under the grants scheme. Yet I will only be able to cover half the coming year's expenses. The mind boggles as to the debt mounted up by those in Britain and the North with no grants and course fees to pay!
Conal, Ireland

There are other ways of earning an education: night school, the OU and technical courses/qualifications. Many employers are eager to pay for their employee's education.
Mathew, UK

MP's who criticise students for being lazy and wasting their money on alcohol should remember they are from a generation of students who received grants from the government.
Helen Carroll, England

The NHS is crying out for doctors and a great majority of the people in my position are being put off by the enormous debts that we will have to accrue to finish the course. I don't mind doing it, as its my ambition, but where is the incentive - 28 years old and the equivalent of a mortgage before I have ever started? It seems the government wants it both ways, the want doctors and skilled people to graduate from university, but are unwilling to financially help to train them. Kind of unfair don't you think?
John-Joe, England

I knew that debt was inevitable by going to university. But I'm there because I know that when I finish I will be able to get a career which will enable me to pay off my debt without too much hassle.
Simon, West Sussex, UK

I graduated a year ago, without debt after working 16 hours a week during term time. It is possible to graduate without debt, there is more to life than drinking. And it isn't true that students only went out when they'd received their loans. I knew a lot of people who went out all the time spending money, and moaning as their debt increased! Don't drink too much and learn to cook is my advice! I had a wonderful time at university, without getting drunk once!
Rebecca, UK

I think the government should drop the university charges. If people want to better themselves, they should have that opportunity and not be charged for it. It seems that, in this country, the only way to get a free education is to serve a prison sentence, which I don't think is the correct message that we should be sending out.
Andy, UK

Not going to uni didn't do me any harm. OK, so it took me a while to get where I am now, but I'm still only 25 have a tiny mortgage, own my own car outright and have no other debt bar my mortgage to worry about. In my eyes, uni wouldn't have helped!
Sandra, UK

I'm a student going into my third year, and am already over �4000 in debt, because of loans, overdrafts and credit cards. There is very little help for students. To have a reasonable standard of living you have to work which in turn affects your studies. We're not all out drinking and partying all the time - most of us can't afford it that often!
Sarra Lumsden, Scotland

I was going to study through a correspondence university in the UK. If I had a UK address as opposed to a Belgian one, it would have been a third of the price! I did not take the course and will not source a course through that university ever again. For half the price of one subject's tuition fees, I would get a years full tuition in Belgium.
Sean Hammon, Belgium ex South Africa

When I went in the early eighties the grant system was still intact. This meant that anybody from any social background could go as far as they were able to. This is not the case today. We are faced with a severe shortage of teachers and people like NHS scientific staff; these are people who won't earn the big figures quoted elsewhere on this forum, will be saddled with crippling debt and are without doubt critical to the running of our society. The return to a free and inclusive education system is imperative if we are to keep our essential services intact. Only problem is, most of us are too greedy to want to pay the tax to finance it.
Andy, Scotland

The only degrees that will pay off are the unstimulating business-applicable ones

James Desborough, UK

Students are encouraged to believe their degree will be a passport to a fat paycheque, they are bombarded with figures and stats claiming "average graduate earnings" of about �18k and the like. When I graduated last year I HONESTLY BELIEVED I would walk into a �20k job with my 2.1 from Nottingham - and look at me now, doing admin for �12k. The two biggest misconceptions are that "a degree" is the same as a job focussed degree with relevant work experience; and that a greater number of educated people will bolster our economy. All it does is devalues the qualification, resulting in a lot of well educated people getting hacked off at having to work for peanuts in menial jobs (like me)!
James Sykes, England

I'd love to apply again and go through uni as a mature student but it's simply not worth it. I'll get further and faster getting work experience than I will with a degree and many grand worth of debt. The only degrees that will pay off are the unstimulating business-applicable ones. We'll see a death of learning for the sake of learning this way. That's a shame.
James Desborough, UK

I have just completed my undergraduate degree at Cambridge, and the university really helped me out. There are lots of funds available (book grants, hardship loans, even money for extracurricular activities and travelling) for poorer students, which is a big advantage of going to a rich place!
Lindsay Hufton, UK

Without fees paid and a proper grant I could not have had a third level education. If I were a school leaver now I would not consider it.
Phil, UK

Personally I think that the people dictating that students should study a trade or a professional degree like medicine have no conception of the individual's needs of wants. I am completing a double major in chemistry and anthropology. Though the chemistry degree will probably pay for my endeavours my anthropology degree was not a waste to time or money as it has taught me where I fit into the world and has been kind of a wake-up call. There are a lot of scientists out there who have no conception of other people and ways of life. We could have cured diseases like malaria long ago, but because it rarely affects those of us in the west no-one seems to care so we continue to make chemicals that can kill thousands with a few milligrams! Yes I will be in debt for a long time, but I wouldn't trade that, the knowledge I have gained is priceless!
Student, Canada

I feel that the comment I read on your site, that the high student drop out rate was in relation to a level grades ridiculous. I achieved AAB grades and I did not drop out due to being unacademic it was purely a financial decision. Jessica Shackleton, England

It seems to me that loans should not be based on parental income. A friend of mine has parents on a far higher wage than my parents earn, so her loan will be significantly smaller than mine. Why is this, when the loan will have to be fully paid back anyway? She is disadvantaged simply because her parents have sought out well paid jobs. This is just one a number of issues which surely need to be addressed with regard to university funding.
Alison Jane, UK

I have just finished a 3 year law degree, and must admit there is a strong pressure to get involved in the 'drinking culture' at uni. The debts I have (�9,500- kept down with jobs every summer) was expected, and seems menial in comparison to the �7300 fees, and �4000 maintenance I will have to pay at law school. I am lucky enough to have savings, but many friends are taking out further bank loans, around �12000!!! THIS is where I start to panic!!!
Anna, UK

I don't really have a problem with the student loan - even though I currently owe about �12,000. I intend to pay it back as slowly as possible, because if I do have any spare money I can put it in a high interest account and make a profit. Many of my friends who don't need the loan (rich parents) are still taking out the money because they can make a profit on it.
Jo, UK

I am starting university in September and it will be a part time course for three years. I am a mother and live with my partner in rented accommodation . We get no help from the government whatsoever and I do not expect it either but I have had to save up to get a qualification so that I do not get a student loan and land myself in loads of debt. But I just wish the course was free and the government, which is supposed to back young people up, would do so. Today's youth are tomorrow�s adults: why don't they invest more in young people then they wouldn't have to spend millions later?
Jolene Beevers, England

The sole advantage of paying tuition fees is that you have consumer's rights. If, as is the case at my daughter's university, staff don't turn up for lectures; there are not enough technicians; there are eighty students in your year when you were told at the interview there would be half that amount; there is insufficient equipment, and some of that is broken; and the department has run out of essential chemicals and won't be replacing them as they've overspent the budget - then sue them! The precedent has been set. My daughter works hard at university and has two jobs, but she is constantly anxious and has no joy in her eyes. I feel so sorry for her and all students - university should be about hard work, but it should also be a time you look back on with fond memories.
FM, UK

Means testing parents of young adults is unfair and a dubious practice at best. We will be legally disowning our children before their 18th birthdays and assigning guardianship to a retired relative. I believe this is the appropriate response.
Andrew, British Ex-pat

Would I have gone to university to study engineering if a full grant hadn't been available? Almost certainly not: engineering is notoriously poorly paid, and my family had old-fashioned values: work hard and don't live on credit. The current system encourages a habit of debt which is profitable for the banks, but not necessarily desirable. Perhaps its time for degrees to return to their academic roots, and for courses like Media Studies to be made level 4 GNVQs or NVQs, which would be far more appropriate.
Guy Chapman, UK

I had no debt and received a sizeable allowance from my parents. Unlike some of my similarly fortunate contemporaries, I didn't spend it on drugs and a third class degree. I worked hard and got a First.
J, UK