The number of student loans and the amount borrowed have grown over the past eight years, research published on Sunday by trade union MHP and student union ISO shows.

In 2009 there were 102,500 students with loans, a doubling of the number in 2003. The average debt rose from €8,000 in 2003 to €12,500 in 2009.
The government contribution to the basic cost has dropped 38% over the past twenty years, while a student loan has rised 105%.
The two unions are worried about the ease with which students can acquire loans, but junior education minister Halbe Zijlstra says this underestates young people. ‘If you’re old enough to have a study grant, you’re old enough to know the consequences of a loan,’ he told Trouw.