The ongoing global debate over student loans and the cost of higher education has taken on new meaning of late. What effect will COVID-19 have on fairness and finances?

Professor Lorraine Dearden takes Dr Rob Webster on a world tour focusing on the two main approaches to student loans - mortgage-style “time-based repayment loans” and “income-contingent loans”, based on future income. Why does one country choose one approach and another opts for something different?

With the coronavirus pandemic bringing uncertainty across the board, what might be in store for the multitude of new graduates looking to enter the workforce during this time? Which country’s students are likely to face greater anxieties and difficulties to repay or risk default?

And of course, Rob and Lorraine also address the elephant in the room - free education.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2020/aug/how-should-students-pay-their-university-degrees-rftrw-s04e01