One-third of students borrows for ‘later’: Nibud

One-third of students borrowing from student loan company Duo do so in order to save for later, according to research by family spending body Nibud.

Many students take out loans from Duo because of the favourable terms or in order not to burden their parents, Nibud says. And those terms are about to become more favourable.

‘The repayment period is being raised to 35 years from the current 15 and the current interest rate is 0.12%,’ Nibud’s Annemarie Koop told broadcaster BNR.

Students with a basic grant borrow around €500 a month; those without borrow €650, Koop said. ‘Of the students who take out a loan, one in three does so to save for later, and one in eight in order to buy luxury products.’

Reasons

Students said they take out the loans because of the favourable terms (63%), because their parents advise them to do so (58%) and because they do not want to ask their parents for money (57%). And 15% said they use the money to buy luxury products.

Nibud says it understands why the current low interest rate motivates students to take out maximum loans, but warns that this is risky because interest rates can increase during a 35-year repayment period.

The organisation expects the amount borrowed by students to increase when the basic grant is abolished in September.