Increasing student loan borrowing will 'change lives'

The amount Northern Irish students can borrow towards their living costs is to rise by over £1,000.

In what could be his final act as economy minister, Conor Murphy has decided to increase the maintenance loan by 20%.

The change will come into effect from September 2025 and will cost his department around £50m.

"This increase will honestly change everyone's lives," said Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) student Emma Gorey.

"Students will actually be able to go to class without having to think, 'oh, I've to rush off to work now.'"

Murphy is contesting the current Irish Seanad election and will quit Stormont if elected.

He told BBC News NI that many students faced "a real financial challenge".

"There's a cost of living crisis right across society, and students aren't immune from that," he said.

"It's critically important that we support our students as they are the people who are going into the workforce; they're the people who are going to create the wealth for the future.

"Clearly if people have to work multiple jobs to carry out their studies, that puts enormous pressure on young people, and studying at university should be an enjoyable experience.

"It should be the time of their lives in many regards before they get into the working world."

The majority of students take out two loans - one to pay tuition fees and a maintenance loan to help with living costs like rent, travel, food, and study materials.

The maintenance loan is set at different levels depending on whether they live in their parents' home or not.

In 2022, the then Economy Minister Gordon Lyons increased the maintenance loan by 40%.

Murphy's further 20% increase means the annual amount that can be borrowed by students living at home will rise from £5,250 to £6,300.

The amount that can be borrowed by those living away from home will rise from £6,776 to £8,132.

If a student is studying in London, they will be able to get a loan of £11,391.

Students in Northern Ireland from less well-off backgrounds can also get a separate maintenance grant of up to £3,475, depending on their household income.

QUB student Aidan Lonergan welcomed the rise in the maintenance loan.

"It'll help with just day-to-day finances," he said.

"It is tough getting by on what we have, and I think that'll be really helpful for next year because prices will probably go up again."

Like other student loans, maintenance loans have to be paid back when students start working after they graduate.

The total student loan debt owed in Northern Ireland is already over £5bn.

Murphy acknowledged that an increase in the maintenance loan would lead to more debt for students.

"That's the way student financing has been operating for a number of years now," he said.

"If we had the resources to do something different about that, we would certainly do something different."

Annual tuition fees for students at university in Northern Ireland are £4,750 per year compared to up to £9,250 per year elsewhere in the UK.

Officials at the Department for the Economy had previously considered the financial impact of raising tuition fees in Northern Ireland to generate income.

But any change would require the approval of the assembly and the executive.