Credit woes fail to deter university hopefuls

The credit crunch is not putting prospective students off racking up debts by doing a degree, a university chief said today.

Rick Trainor, principal of King's College London and president of Universities UK, said applications were continuing to rise despite the economic slowdown and concerns over high levels of personal debt.

He told the Evening Standard that universities needed more money "by one means or another" which many will interpret as a plea to lift the current £3,000 cap on tuition fees, or abolish it altogether.

Students can now expect to incur debts of £20,000 or more for a three-year degree and must start paying off their loans once they earn more than £15,000 a year. But repayments - currently at 4.8 per cent - are at "very favourable rates of interest", said Professor Trainor.

He added: "Applications have gone up from home students for UK universities so people are not being deterred, they feel it's a good investment and so do we."

The Government has promised to review tuition fees next year.