If you’re a student or have partaken in some form of further education at some point in your life, chances are you have amassed a few debts as a souvenir of your journey.

The theory as to whether loans can be the root of long-term personal debt for former students has been the centre of many debates, for quite a while. According to recent research, the acquisition of loans whilst in further education is not directly responsible for debt later on in life (from the perspective of accumulative interest). What appears to be more harmful for graduates is the adoption of a “credit as a means to survive” attitude resulting from the student lifestyle.

Accordingly, former students are less likely to consider the possible future detriments of multiple credit agreements with many viewing standard credit terms (such as personal loans) in the same light as student credit (i.e. prolonged repayment terms). It has also been suggested that graduates expect to become indebted to some degree, supposedly viewing those with minimal to no debt commitments as unusual.

Statistics suggest that the average student will amass a debt of 13,000 upon graduation with a propensity to increase debts further by around 100% during their lifetime. The average unsecured debt for people, who have skipped higher education opting to enter into full time employment instead, is said to be around £8000.