Universities have produced what they say is "hard evidence" that fear of debt puts many young people off going to university.

Debt aversion has the greatest impact on the participation of the very groups the government most wants to attract Researcher Claire Callender

Universities UK, representing higher education principals, published research which will fuel the ongoing row over student debt and possible higher fees.

The findings suggest that 63% of school leavers who decided not to go to university did not want to amass debts

And half thought the costs of a university education outweighed the benefits - contrary to ministers' arguments.

Diana Green, the vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, chairs the principals' student debt project.

She said: "This is the first hard evidence of what we already know anecdotally - that debt aversion has the greatest impact on the participation of the very groups the government most wants to attract into higher education."

Put off

Two Universities UK surveys were carried out earlier this year.

One, involving almost 2,000 school leavers and further education students, was conducted by South Bank University's Professor Claire Callender.

She said people's attitudes were "complex" but "veered towards a fear of debt".

While 71% had applied or intended to apply to go to university and 87% believed it would be worthwhile, 84% thought debts put people off.

Fifteen per cent had decided not to go - because they wanted or needed a job (72% of them), did not want to build up debt (63%) or believed the costs outweighed the benefits (51%).

Three quarters said that if grants replaced student loans, more people would go to university.

Debt struggle

The other survey, of 1,500 undergraduates at seven different, unnamed universities, was done by South Bank's Ruth Van Dyke and Brenda Little of the Open University.

It suggested that two-thirds of students in their final year of study accepted debt as a fact of life.

But three quarters of them worried about how they were going to pay it off.

Two thirds would owe the official Student Loans Company more than �7,000 by the time they left - plus any overdrafts, credit card balances or other borrowings.

Almost a third found it a constant struggle to cope with their debts.

Work impact

Almost half of students in all years were working part-time during term - to the detriment of their studies - and often got little or no financial support from their families.

The government is committed to what critics say is an arbitrary target of having half of people under 30 going into higher education by 2010 - up from the present 40%.

It particularly wants to attract more youngsters from so-called "non-traditional" backgrounds - that is, with no history of higher education.

But Prof Callender concluded: "Debt aversion has the greatest impact on the participation of the very groups the government most wants to attract."

Higher earnings

The government's long-awaited and much debated strategy document on higher education in England is due out next month.

Debt and the fear of debt are important issues for us as we think through our strategy paper Department for Education

Ministers acknowledge that universities are underfunded and have been saying repeatedly that graduates gain significantly in higher earnings throughout their lives - so should pay more for their degrees.

Some universities have been planning to increase tuition fees - currently capped at a maximum of �1,100 a year.

In the face of strong opposition from within his own party as well as outside, the prime minister said in the Commons that parents would not be faced with paying "thousands" upfront.

But he has not ruled out some other form of higher contribution, perhaps by way of a graduate tax.

In Scotland - where Labour ministers oppose higher fees - students' fees are paid for them by the government but they pay �2,000 towards hardship grants for poorer students once they are earning over �10,000 a year.

'Worthwhile'

A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said: "Debt and the fear of debt are important issues for us as we think through our strategy paper."

The president of the National Union of Students, Mandy Telford, said: "On Wednesday the prime minister gave the biggest indication yet that he would not force top-up fees onto students and their parents.

"What he now needs to do is clearly state how he intends to stick to his promise that he will not introduce a system that deters people from applying to university."

The general secretary of the Association of University Teachers, Sally Hunt, said: "This report backs up what we've been saying all along.

"The AUT strongly believes that higher education should be a right, not a privilege, and that people from poor backgrounds have as much right to attend university as others."