Student Loans
Who Borrows and Why?
Joan Payne with Claire Callander

Following the Government's response to the Dearing Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, student loans, for fees as well as maintenance, will become the main means of student support. To understand the consequences of this change, we need to analyse the impact of loans on today's students.

At present, three in five students take out loans, and two in five do not. What encourages students to borrow, who gets by without the need, and who is reluctant to go into debt? What issues does this raise for policy ?

Student Loans: Who Borrows and Why? uses an up-to-date national survey to answer these questions. It covers:

• gender differences
• differences between ethnic groups
• the position of mature students
• how family circumstances affect borrowing
• links with living arrangements and patterns of expenditure
• student attitudes to debt.

This topical study will interest everyone involved in higher education, as provider or policy maker, student or parent.

£15.00 paperback ISBN 0 85374 728 8
September 1997 160 pages 234 x 153mm
Report number 848