Sometimes you just have to admire the aesthetical and artistical aspects of this aggressively predatory world created by fine humans such as Thatcher, Reagan, Clinton, Jack Well and Carl Icahn. This human meat-grinder system is surely a beast to behold: "Don't wait, get them while they are young! it's the most efficient thing to do, slave them with compound interest as early as possible! why wait until they start a family and get a mortgage to fleece them?
Of course, inflation is usually slightly higher than interest rates...
The blame for this system, if one is inclined to blame, can be laid at the feet of Tony Blair's neoliberal New Labour. The decision to begin charging tuition fees was made because of a belief in market economics and privatisation, but also because of that government's stated ambition to get 50% of young adults into universities. Without both factors, I don't believe the system would have mutated into the expensive beast it is today.
I assume you mean Welch, right?
I raised my eyebrow at this for a second, so to save someone else the Google search: the Student Loan Company isn't a private corporation, but rather a UK government organization: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-co...
The question is, what system would avoid this perverse incentive? A graduate tax would have the same problem. Free tuition shifts the burden to every taxpayer unfairly. Maybe another repayment scheme, but that would disproportionately harm poorer students.
To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what tools a creditor has to pursue a debtor who has left the country in general...
I know someone who did the exact same thing in the US. The loan was from the late 70s, and the loan was around 70K USD. By around the 90s or so she was blacklisted from decent jobs due to here credit report.
She finally paid it off in the early 00s, but the damage was done. So be careful with this. I do not know how things work in Europe, but I would not be surprise if the something like this will start happening in Europe.
