EU students owe us £592million – and Brexit means we may NEVER get it back
STUDENTS from EU countries owe British taxpayers £592million — and it may be impossible to recoup once we leave the EU, The Sun can reveal.
The Brexit vote has triggered a 27 per cent surge in applications to study in the UK as students rush to start before we leave the EU in March next year.
EU students are currently entitled to borrow up to £9,250 a year to pay college and university tuition fees, just like British applicants.
But Sun inquiries have found some students, for example from Romania, are being told by go-betweens they will not have to repay a penny.
One agent encouraging Romanian students to apply for UK courses told a Sun investigator posing as a student: “This is the last year — your last chance.”
Others firms offered assistance to applicants for a £60 fee.
One Romanian-speaker working for a UK agency told us: “(After Brexit) it is over. Everybody who misses residency after 2019 will not be able to get into the UK.”
Asked whether he would have to pay back the loan if he returned to Romania, the agent said: “Even if they search for you, you will not have earnings registered . . . they can’t find you.”
Another Romanian-speaking agent from a London-based call centre firm told The Sun man: “You are not going to miss Romanians.
“There are a lot of Romanians in this programme on every course. You will find them everywhere.”
She added that a simple “declaration” would be enough to stop British authorities chasing loan debts.
She told him: “You have to repay when you finish the courses and your income is more than £21,000. After 30 years the debt is cleared.
“They think you will receive a good job here and repay.”
The Government-run Student Loan Company confirmed yesterday EU students have so far paid back £104.7million of what they borrowed — with £592million still on the books.
But Department for Education officials still have no clear idea how, if at all, a post-Brexit loan system will operate.
Meanwhile, figures reveal that applications from EU students have soared from 44,300 in 2015-16 to 56,500 in 2016-17.
The surge was revealed as the Government prepared a sweeping review of the loan system.
Students taking less popular university degrees may get a discount under a drive to boost the appeal of skill-gap subjects such as engineering.
Last night SLC officials insisted action plans were in place to chase up all debts — both at home and across Europe.
A spokeswoman said: “The vast majority of borrowers meet the repayment terms they signed up for.
“We are committed to recovering every penny of taxpayer monies owed by people who have benefited from the student loans system in the UK and this will continue to be the case post-Brexit.
“We have a zero tolerance for fraud and in the last year we have prevented £16.3million of taxpayers’ money from being paid out to fraudsters.
“We would ask anyone with information on any suspicious activity in relation to student funding in the UK or overseas to contact our hotline on 0141 243 3336 or email [email protected].”
The Department for Education did not respond when asked how officials could account for the post-Brexit vote surge in EU loan applications.
But they confirmed no strategy was yet in place to deal with loan applications made after we leave Europe.
MOST READ IN NEWS
A DfE spokeswoman said: “Future arrangements after we leave the EU for EU students starting courses after 2018-19 will be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.
“Anyone refusing to repay their loans can be pursued through the UK courts or in their home country. This will not change after Brexit.”