Since 2012, students have been paying considerably higher tuition fees, and borrowing more money in the form of student loans.

The average graduate racks up a total average debt of £45,000 and only a minority of students under the current system will ever pay these loans back in full. By the middle of the century, the government forecasts the unpaid student loans debt to be around £560 billion.

In a series of recently announced reforms, the government has indicated a desire for students to pay back more of their loans, and pushed through significant changes to the system.

This week, Paul speaks to Ben Waltmann, IFS education expert, and Ivor Crewe, panellist on the Augar Review of the post-18 education system, to get to the bottom of these reforms and think about how students, taxpayers and universities will be affected.

Are too many people going to university?: https://ifs.org.uk/podcast/are-too-many-people-going-to-university

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