The average student debt may rise to £60,000 after the introduction of higher tuition fees in 2012, according to a new survey by Push, the independent student guide.
Its research based on 2,800 students, projects that graduates in England could end up with debts of £59,100 by the time they complete their degrees.
In the UK as a whole, students are expected to graduate with debts of £53,400 – this compares to just £26,100 for students starting university in 2011.
The survey follows the revelation this week that half of all universities are expecting a drop in student admissions and the higher education sector as a whole is expecting a fall of two per cent, as a result of higher tuition fees.
The UCU said that this is likely to have a detrimental effect on higher education institutions that are already trying to cope with government cuts to their teaching budget of 80 per cent.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: “Average student debt is already staggeringly high and is now set to get much worse. The government’s university funding plans are a recipe for disaster and will lead to people making important life choices on the basis of their ability to pay rather than their ability to learn.”
