Graduates 'shouldn't be concerned' about high loan rates
Published On 3 March 2008
The credit crunch will not have had a huge impact on the likelihood of graduates being offered a loan, an industry exert has said.According to financial advice site Moneyfacts, graduates should not be worried about getting credit, or about high rates.
Samantha Owens, head of credit cards and loans at the site, asserted that lenders have "different risk factors" for people who have left higher education and see them as customers who are worth attracting regardless of their student debt.
Ms Owens said that as such, graduates tend to benefit from high borrowing and low rates on their loans, which is likely to remain unchanged this year.
She explained: "[Graduate loans] aren't like the standard market… [There are] different risk factors that they're looking at, because they're trying to get the graduates in, they're tying to attract them with rates that are slightly more preferential than they're going to give to other people.
"We don't see any market contraction for graduates, and they shouldn't be concerned about ridiculously high rates, or trouble getting any credit."
Graduate debt has fallen in the UK for the first time in six years to £12,363, six per cent lower than it was in 2006, according to debt charity Credit Action.
