Student Loan Interest Rate. Is Govt Delay over decision based on “how much will it cost”?

Student Loan Interest Rate. Is Govt Delay over decision based on “how much will it cost”?

The Student Loans Company’s rates change in September based on March’s RPI; if next month’s figure drops from the current 0% and goes negative, those who started uni pre-1998 – currently paying 3.8% – will see their loan SHRINK.

Yet the govt. hasn’t confirmed if the same’ll happen for post-1998 student loans: these rely on both inflation and are also linked to interest rates, and therefore have already dropped to 1.5% (full explanation: student loan repaying guide).

I wonder if this delay is a wait and see what the RPI for March is before it decides. Perhaps if in March RPI is -0.1% or 0.2% it will confirm that post 1998 university starters (who form the majority) will also see their loans shrink – that’s great PR to start with. Yet if RPI is -3.0% the cost will be too high and it will change the system, or argue it should match interest rates.

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