Analysis: Student Loans Are Now Even More of a Scam
by Aaron Bastani
The student loan system is changing again. What do the prospective reforms mean? And will they undermine the economic value of going to university? Aaron Bastani takes a look.
Tag: student debt
Opinion: Joe Biden Is Toying With Forgiving Student Loans. He Should Wipe Them Out Altogether
by Micah Uetricht
In a marked departure from his previously unsympathetic stance, Joe Biden is considering forgiving student loans. But while this is no doubt a welcome shift, argues Micah Uetricht, the left must now put pressure on Biden to go much further — and cancel them all.
Opinion: Covid-19 Has Shown University Isn’t About Educating Young People – It’s About Exploiting Them
by Aaron Bastani
The spectacle of student lockdowns at British universities may seem absurd. But it’s just the logical conclusion of a system in which everything - including higher education - is subordinated to the interests of rentiers, landlords and big business, writes Aaron Bastani.
6 Ways Monetisation Is Destroying Universities From the Inside Out
by Rebecca Corningstone
Universities run like businesses. Students treated like consumers. Here's how higher education in the UK is being changed for the worse.
Debt, Markets and Pepe: The Reactionary Face of LSE’s Student Body
by Joe Hayns
Universities were once a hotbed of radical politics, with on campus strikes enjoying broad support from students. But the markestisation of higher education, and the coercive power of debt, is quickly eroding this legacy, at LSE and beyond.
The Establishment’s Revolving Door: the View from Portugal
by Joana Ramiro
In 2014, Arrow Global bought up £900m of UK student debt through its subsidiary Erudio. Big in Portugal, Arrow has been hoovering up the profits from the collapse of Banif bank. The minister who oversaw Banif's failed bailout is now a director for Arrow.
4 Things We Can Learn from the Government’s Manoeuvring on Student Loans
by Josh Allen
As part of its fire sale of public assets, the government has been trying to sell off the student loan book for some time. Released without fanfare, the universities minister's newest strategy seeks to make student loans more appealing to buyers.
A Few Reasons Why Changes to Student Loan Repayments Could Decimate Your Income
by Hannah Sketchley
With the post-2012 fee regime now costing as much as the old one, student loan repayments are changing. Here's why the most boringly packaged part of the budget is likely to make graduates poorer.
5 Student Strikes That Show How Students Can Win
by Josh Berlyne and Callum Cant
Who cares if students don't go to class? With the idea of a student strike being pushed onto the UK student movement agenda, it's a good time to look at some examples from around the world.
5 Threats to Post-2012 Student Debtors
by Callum Cant
Having shelved plans to sell off the student loan book in 2014, the government is continuing to fudge its uncosted £9k fee regime by returning to the possibility of retroactively changing the terms of student loan borrowing.
4 Ways Generation Y is Being Taken for a Ride (and 3 Ways it’s Pushing Back)
by AltGen
Youth unemployment is sky-rocketing and Cameron is seeking to take away benefits from young people. Against this trend of declining living standards, students in the US are organising debt strikes and in the UK youth-led workers' co-operatives are multiplying.
Getting the Books Straight: 6 Things You Should Know About Student Loans
by Craig McVegas
Student loans are back in the news, this time over anticipated repayments. Expectedly, the coverage around the issue has been obscured with jargon and spin, so here's a concise guide to the main things you really need to know in order to get your head around - and tackle - the latest developments in the student loan book debacle.
5 Reasons Free Education is Still Worth It
by Alia Al Ghussain
The idea of education as a commodity and universities as sausage factories only seems to be on the rise, meanwhile any semblance of a higher education as a social good accessible to all only seems to becoming the stuff of fantasy. This article takes on the normalization of market logic being applied to education, as well as the NUS's preferred - and embarrassing - 'graduate tax' policy, to argue that nothing short of free education should be demanded to reclaim education.