Originally Posted by
iceman
eZ, last numbers I saw, some time ago (mid 2011 ?), showed that around 88,000 student loan borrowers are living overseas and the total student loan debt stood at $2.3 Billion, with around $200 million overdue. National has introduced various initiatives to make it easier for borrowers to make voluntary payments in line with the the contracts they signed, such as early repayment discounts etc. But at the same time they have got tough on defaulters (basically people that have no intention of paying back) chasing them both in Australia and the UK. This has recouped significant amounts of money for the Government and I understand there are clear signs people now realise the Government is intent on getting the money back so voluntary repayments are increasing. This is good. Remember many of these borrowers are now high income earners, many overseas, and they should be paying the money back. For NZ residents they increased the repayment rate from 10% to 12% of earnings but only for those earning more than $370 per week. Again, good job.
How things were done in the past is irrelevant. The people (students and their families) that took on these loans on very favourable terms with clearly set out obligations to repay, should honour it and pay the money back when they are in the workforce and can pay it back. The young farmer who takes over his farm from his family does not get interest free loans to buy the farm but yet they know and accept they have to pay the loan back, WITH INTEREST !