The average debt run up by students has doubled to €12,000 in the last four years according to figures by the student financing organisation IBGroep, reports BNR radio on Thursday.

The number of students who face a bailiff has also gone up, reaching 75,000 last year, according to the IBGroep.
The national student body says its members have to borrow more because the cost of courses and rent has ‘exploded’ while grants have remained the same for the past 20 years.
Alexander Pechtold, leader of the left-wing democrats D66, told BNR he is ‘shocked’ by the figures and says students should be allowed to earn more without having their grants cut.
But Liberal (VVD) MP Halbe Zijlstra says students themselves are to blame for getting into debt and should learn to manage their finances better.