SWINDON students could find themselves in deeper debt when they graduate after recommendations that interest on university loans should be increased.

The suggestions come from a year-long study conducted by the Confederation of British Industry.

The recommendations include charging student loans at commercial interest rates to increase the amount undergraduates would repay, lifting the £3,100 cap on fees to £5,000 and lowering the Government grant threshold.

If the suggested changes to the grant threshold are adopted, only students from families with a £17,910 household income will be eligible for a full grant instead of the current £25,000 limit.

This is worrying for Karl Stoddard, 18, who is only just embarking on a degree course in maths at Portsmouth University.

Karl, from Pentridge Close, Nythe, said: “It is a very real worry, especially with the changes to the grant scheme.

“I was given a £500 partial grant this year but under the recommendations I probably wouldn’t get anything in my second year because my household income is above the threshold.”

Karl said that if the CBI’s suggestions were taken up many students would be put off university because of the impending debt.

“It is bad enough leaving university with £20,000 of debt stacked against you, but if we are forced to pay commercial interest rates then I think there will be people deciding that it is just not worth it,” he said.

“Most of us choose to go to university so we can better ourselves, leave with a degree and get a well-paid job, but when you add up how much it will cost in the long run, for some it just won’t be worth all the expense.”

Geography undergraduate Daniel Hunt, 21, who has started his third year of university at Plymouth said he would be looking into alternative routes if he was applying again.

Daniel, of Coleview, Stratton, said: “I was given the maximum grant when I applied because I came from a single-parent family, but there is no way I would get that under these new recommendations because my mum would be considered as earning too much.

“It seems strange that the Government is trying to encourage school leavers to go to university but they are entertaining these suggestions that will make it harder for students to get in.

“If it takes on these recommendations the Government will only be impacting on the future of its own country.

“The students of today are the future so it would be better to give them the opportunity of a higher education at a low price rather than creating the kind of debt we will still be paying when we’re 50.”

Coun Garry Perkins, Swindon Council cabinet member for children’s services said the CBI’s suggestions would create a rod for the economy’s back.

“If these points are implemented there will undoubtedly be those who will be unable to enter into higher education,” said Coun Perkins, pictured.

“That in turn will mean more people looking for jobs and with the country already suffering financially, it will only add to the strain.

“For those already in university education, I hope that current grant agreements will be honoured so would-be-graduates won’t suffer because of bad planning.”