Most of the loans here have been or are being sold to "investment" companies and debt collection agencies (loan sharks with a nicer name). So we're in the same boat.robojam wrote:I think things are significantly worse here as the cost of a university education is far higher as there is little in the way of subsidies. The total amount of unpaid student loans here in the US is over one trillion dollars now, and the levels of defaulting on those loans is very high. Not only that, anyone that does default will get chased down relentlessly to squeeze the money (plus high interest) out of them, and it's much harder to get rid of the loan by declaring bankruptcy now.The_Hidden_Goose wrote:Maybe things are different in the States but people are getting themselves into horrendous debt here in the UK with no work, no prospects at the end of it, except maybe a career in education to teach the next generation how to get in to even worse debt and be greedily eyeing your job since it's the only field they can reasonably expect to use their new-found knowledge in.
I believe the loans are all owned by a non-profit organization in the UK (or at least they used to be), but here in the US they're pretty much owned by loan sharks.
At least in the UK if you go to college you're getting a degree (if you graduate) that is recognized across the country. In the US there is no such standardization of degrees, and colleges get accediation from various accreditation bodies (and in some cases don't get it at all) but they can still award degrees regardless of who accredits them.
I'd say consider yourself well off in the UK compared to the US as you'll get far less in debt and have more of a guarantee of your degree being considered valuable if you go to a lesser known college.
Similarly with the bankruptcy thing over here now.
It's gotten much worse than when I was that age, but I saw it coming and opted out. Once they're sold everything can change. This government is also in the habit of enacting retrospective law these days too.