Russell Group Director Wendy Piatt
University students may have to face paying their loans back earlier and with a higher interest rate to help avert a funding crisis, a report released earlier today claimed.
The Russell Group, which includes the University of Sheffield, says it faces a £1.1bn shortfall in its finances by the year 2012.
The Group represents the 20 most research-intensive universities in the U.K, and includes Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds and Sheffield.
The report claims that the current system is unnecessarily generous to students, and urges that loans are paid back at a real interest rate.
Research led universities are at a particular risk to funding due to the low staff-student ratios, and the added cost of equipment and resources.
The director general of The Russell group Wendy Piatt, said: “Without more investment in higher education, the U.K risks jeopardising the competitive advantage which has made its universities the envy of the world.
“There is now a real risk we could lose academics who have been responsible for discoveries that have changed the lives of people for the better.”
The National Union of Students claim the group has a “regressive” approach to student finance, and that students “already pay more than their fair share.”
Final year English student, Laura Oliver said: “I chose to go to University because of the low interest rate on student loans and the fact you did not have to pay it back until you started earning.
“If the report is true I would be stressed and concerned as to how I could find the means to pay my student loan back.”
The report offers other solutions on how to deal with the financial difficulties, such as staff cuts and increasing income by an intake of more international students.
Currently students do not have to start paying loans back until they are earning £15, 000 or more per year, and pay 9% on income above that figure.
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