Greeks owe 4.3 mln pounds for student loans in the UK
Greek students owe about 4.3 million pounds sterling in unpaid loans provided to study at British universities, Kathimerini understands.
EU students are eligible for loans to cover living costs and tuition fees which they are required to start paying back when their own annual income exceeds the sum of 21,000 pounds.
According to figures published by Britain’s Student Loans Company, while Greek students appear to owe about 4.3 million pounds, Cypriot students seems to have borrowed some 24 million pounds sterling and have so far repaid about 15.5 million. Irish students owe about 3.7 million pounds, while a total of about 10 million pounds sterling is owed by French, German and Polish students graduating in the UK.
According to an OECD education report, 22,000 Greeks were studying in foreign universities in 2012 at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Out of these, 36.1 percent were studying in the UK, 15.8 percent in Germany, 9.2 percent in Italy, 5 percent in France and 4.8 percent in the United States.
Annual undergraduate fees at English and Welsh universities range from 3,450 to 9,000 pounds sterling, while undergraduate study is free in Scotland.
Over the last five years the Student Loans Company has disbursed more than 117 million pounds sterling to students from EU countries.
