No additional payments if student fees were increased, say universities

ByRobbie MeredithEducation and arts correspondent and Conor McCannBBC News NI

It is "unhelpful and unrealistic" to suggest that higher tuition fees would lead to students paying more money back.

That is according to a submission to a Westminster committee of MPs from Ulster University (UU).

The university said many students would face "no additional payments if student fees were increased."

MPs on Westminster's Treasury Committee had accused the government of "mis-selling" some student loans.

While the inquiry focused on loans for students in England and Wales, both UU and Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) made written submissions to the committee's inquiry.

How do student loans in Northern Ireland work?

Most students in Northern Ireland take out a loan to cover their tuition fees and a "maintenance loan" to cover their living costs.

Northern Irish students who study in Northern Ireland will have to pay tuition fees of £4,985 a year in 2026/27.

That is less than the £9,790 a year paid by students studying in England and Wales but more than the €2,500 "student contribution charge" in the Republic of Ireland.

Students in Northern Ireland can also take out a maintenance loan of up to £6,471 a year or £8,352 a year depending on whether they are living with their parents or not.

They begin to pay their loans back when they have finished their course, started work and are earning over £26,900 a year.

If the loan is not fully repaid after 25 years, whatever is still owed is cancelled.

What do NI's universities say about tuition fees?

The leaders of Northern Ireland's five universities and university colleges have previously called for tuition fees to rise by more than £1,000 a year.

In 2025, they wrote to the leaders of the five main parties asking for tuition fees to rise to almost £6,000 a year.

Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald subsequently ruled out increasing tuition fees above the usual level of inflation.

In their submission to the Treasury Committee both QUB and UU raised concerns about the sustainability of university finances.

Ulster University has recently announced plans to cut up to 450 jobs.

In their submission to MPs, UU said that "Northern Ireland's universities are fundamental to the region's economy and societal fabric," but were facing a "funding crisis".

"The current funding model for higher education in Northern Ireland is no longer fit for purpose," the university said.

It said there was a "student debt myth," and that modelling by the university's economic policy centre suggested that middle-earning graduates and below would face "no additional payments if student fees were increased".

"The public debate tends to focus on total hypothetical debt accrued, as opposed to what students actually end up repaying," the university said.

"This skews the debate in unhelpful and unrealistic manner, creating impediments to constructive HE (higher education) reform."

The university's submission also said that focusing the debate on tuition fees around student debt was "often misleading and inflated" compared to the "actual repayment reality, which for many graduates is significantly lower".

They also quoted the financial expert Martin Lewis, who has highlighted that what students earn rather than what they borrow determines what they pay back each year.

How do students and graduates feel about their loans?

Michael Doherty studied finance but now works as a personal trainer.

He said student loans felt like "free money" when he was younger but added that those repayments now "feel like a tax rather than debt".

"I decided to go self-employed when I was at uni. I think it was the right decision and worth doing but had I been more aware of how much money that was actually being spent on it, then I probably wouldn't have made that decision," he said.

Doherty said that university was not a good investment for him as he does not use his degree.

"I see my degree as a fallback as I don't know where things will be in five years and if I'll need it again but to be honest it's just an expensive thing to do as just a fallback, so I wouldn't say it's actually a good investment," he said.

He did say as student loans are means tested you pay back proportionally depending on what you earn.

"So, if you make a lot more money, you'll pay back more," he said.

"When I was first out of university, working as a personal trainer I wasn't making that much money and didn't pay back anything in my student loan because I wasn't earning enough."

Lauren Marshall, who studied at Ulster University before completing a PGCE at Edge Hill University, estimates she has between £30,000 and £35,000 in student loan debt.

She repays about £150 a month and said it feels like "a constant burden that is always hanging over your head".

"There was no real option not to take out the loan and, without the degree and PGCE, you don't have the qualifications," she said.

Marshall said she doesn't pay much attention to the payment because it has always been deducted from her salary.

"I don't notice it as much coming out of my salary every month simply because it's always been going out and will continue to, probably until the end of my career."

The President of NUS-USI Amy Smith, said that any rise in tuition fees would be "catastrophic".

"The reality is that 86.2% of graduates are paying back their student loans each month," she said.

"For every young person with a debt larger than a mortgage, any rise will simply add to the psychological and financial burden graduates are already facing."

"This very real debt would also deter potential learners from entering higher education in the first place, while making it harder for people to return to education later in life."