Several former students end up in debt trap

Former students cannot afford to pay their SU-loans, which is, therefore, due for recovery from tax administration. Such is the assessment from the SF and the Danish Students ' Council in the aftermath of the Extra Magazine's revelations of a dramatic rise in non-performing SU-denominated debt in the period from 2010 to 2018.

SF's education and forskningsordfører, Jacob Mark, look 'first and foremost' the increase in the non-performing SU-debt as a sign that a growing number of former students must give up to repay their SU-debt.

- It may well be that there is something with the collection, which is lagging. But I myself have once borrowed the SU and even paid the money back. The system is fairly manageable, so I think that the biggest problem is that there are people who can't afford it. This is because it has become too expensive to be a student today, says the rapporteur.

He gets the support from the president of the Danish Student Council, Johan Hedegaard Jørgensen, who believe that the increase is a result of more expensive cost of living for students in Denmark. According to the DSF through a number of years has been a skewing of the ratio of the SU and the student's living expenses, because the SU did not increase in line with the general wage and price developments.

- Why has Jacob Mark is absolutely right when he points out that it has become significantly more expensive to be a student in Denmark. But it's also about that SU’a is being eroded year by year, has decided that the SU should not follow the wage in the rest of society, " says Johan Hedegaard Jørgensen.

At the DSF are you worried that there are some groups among the students in Denmark, which has, in particular, find it difficult to pay their SU-back loans. He points out that studies from Norway show that it especially applies to single mothers and students who do not come from academic backgrounds.

Wi-hos Nordea Ann Lehmann Erichsen estimates that it has been more expensive to be a student over the past ten years. She also points out that the government's fremdriftsreform means that fewer students have a student job today than it was ten years ago, because they are pressed faster through their studies. the

at the same time, the price of rental housing has risen to the top through a number of years.

- If you as the students go out and find an apartment on the free housing market, then you have to settle together with maybe three other students in order to pay a modern apartment to 12,000 kr. to 15,000 kr. a month, she says.

Ann Lehmann Erichsen, has studied the Danish students ' attitudes to loans. The study showed that the students generally only want to take out a loan, if it is an absolute necessity. Therefore, she sees the increasing number of non-performing SU-loans, reflecting the fact that many students are pushed in their pockets.

the Liberal Alliance uddannelsesordfører, Henrik Dahl, denies that students get into trouble because of rising house prices, fremdriftsreform and the afregulerede SU. He notice that Denmark already has the world's highest SU and is among the countries in the world that spend the most money on education and research.

- It is something total victimization. If you study 37 hours per week, you can of course take a student job in 10 hours by the side of, if you are young, fresh, hale and hearty. I think it is forargeligt, it becomes a competition to make himself the sacrifice, he says.

A higher SU can according to Henrik Dahl mean that even more students from other countries will seek to take advantage of our SU-system. Therefore he warns against the increase of the SU-rate. the