Definitely Daily Mail territory, written to get "middle England" worked up, we get a story about how students from other EU member states are able to apply for loans here – yet there are no provisions to make them repay them. British-based students, of course, have to pay back their loans automatically through the tax system but there is no repayment mechanism for those who move abroad. This means that they are effectively getting "free" university educations in Britain – for what that is worth.

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London Metropolitan University has been asked to repay some 40 million in grants it was given by the Department of Education for students who did not complete their course. I suspect that a good few other higher education institutions have been pulling the same scam. The LMU makes no mention of this on the official college website.

It is all part of all pervading corruption that surrounds all of us now. No doubt none of the lecturers noticed anything. They were probably too busy organising anti-Israel campaigns.

As an inpecunious Brit living in Belgium, I am very happy that my daughters have the chance of attending British universities to complete their education in a more rounded way than the Belgian system would have allowed. The Student Loan Company may be following EU rules, however, the lack of systems to trace non-repayment is surely more their lack of foresight and effective management, than the result of an EU directive. Naturally, my daughters' are beyond reproach in this matter.

Another benefit from our continued 'membership' of the EU. My heart swells with pride, knowing that my taxes can help a fellow European get a free education, while I sweat and worry about affording my kids' college.

But, that is my place in the scheme of things, just to provide the money and not to question the enormous benefits, nay privileges, that come with being involved with the EU, a beacon of hope, liberty and justice, and free education for all- except tax paying Brits, of course.

The story doesn't say how many are British students who move abroad after graduating. The comment about not chasing students up through the parental address suggests there could be plenty amongst the 2240. Equally, students from other EU countries who stay and work in the UK will be paying back their loans. The article doesn't put a figure on those, but might it not be more than the 2240 minus the British citizens amongst their number?
I'm surprised you haven't put the counter arguments in anticipation of the call for an all-powerful pan-EU debt collection agency to "solve" the problem.

That is the inevitable consequence ... first you create a problem and then you offer a solution ... its called engrenage.

What of British students who do not get jobs on graduating or get jobs that are not well enough paid to be able to repay loans? Given the sort of degrees and the sort of universities we now have there is a considerable number of them. The whole system needs a complete overhaul. For once, I think it's us. And yes, quite a lot of EU students stay here and get jobs here and pay taxes here. But then they are castigated for that. Can't help thinking that Junior's opinion of the Daily Mail is the correct one. That is shoddy journalism whether the thesis is correct or not.

This is the Daily Mail we're talking about here. Is the Pope a Catholic?

In Scotland, scottish students do not have to pay tuition fees. Of course, because we cannot discriminate against EU citizens, the same applies to students from mainland Europe and Eire. If however you are English, Welsh, or from Nothern Ireland, you pay the full whack. I am a Scot, but being a very liberal and non-racist person. I am married to an English woman, and my kids went to school down in England where we live. They are both students at St Andrews - so we pay full fees, while their Swedish and Irish flatmates pay nothing. Of course you will appreciate we think this sort of charge is so worth while considering the undoubted advantages our country gets from EU membership. Let us all wear our chains with pride. Gawd bless you Brussels. We can't really complain that that
Euro students in England will never pay back their loans, think of the influence good old Blighty is earning.

Rightly so. Actually it`s the system. The system we have should be castigated for that.

I hope the various Mafias can't read.

Apart from the loans for 'top up fees' (about £3k pa) and for 'maintenance' (about £3k pa), the British taxpayer is also paying for the non-repayable balance of the fees. For some courses (eg medicine or engineering) that will be many thousands of pounds extra each year.

Of course, this arrangement will always work against the British taxpayer as coming to study in Britain in English is attractive to many non-British young people in the EU, whereas few British people will be rushing to studying in, say, Hungary, with tuition in Hungarian.

Did I read something there about the SLC never contacting parents?

Really?

When my daughters were at University the SLC never STOPPED contacting me and my wife and hassling for Statements of earnings and copies of Tax returns. At least twice a year for the latter and well in advance of the time when HMRC insisted on tax returns arriving.

We must have received an entire forest's worth of paper (mostly duplication, useless and large print but completely unintelligible for all that) from them in the past 4 or 5 years.

Thankfully both have now graduated and I am free of the hassle. Perhaps their stats tell them they are making enough contacts but not that they are too often contacting the same people they hassled last time.

Quite why the system has to be so labour intensive is unclear to me - unless it is just a self funding job creation scheme.

GP

I was one of those EU students. However, I wasn't eligible for student loans because the duration of my residency in Britain was 3 weeks short of the required 3 years. I started uni in 2004 and graduated last year. I guess the rules changed in 2005?