Should the government make student loans interest-free for students studying STEM degrees?
UK student loans for undergraduate degrees currently carry interest linked to RPI inflation. For the 2026/27 academic year starting 1 September 2026, Plan 2 loans (most common for degrees since 2012) are capped at a maximum 6% despite RPI at 4.1%. STEM subjects such as science, technology, engineering and maths are identified as priority areas by government due to skills shortages. The total higher education loan book exceeds £294 billion with ongoing debate about fairness of interest charges.
4 Opinions
They should be interest-free for everyone. They have an essential monopoly so profiting off of it is grim.
STEM underpins our countries development and growth, and measures need to be in place to better encourage our best students into these courses
There's no evidence to suppose that interest free loans for STEM courses would reduce skills shortages. It's more likely that it would result in universities, through financial necessity, decreasing the quality of existing STEM provision by increasing student numbers.
No, it all should be regulated by a free market, government isn't able to perform the most basic tasks.