Do you think government student finance loans should charge interest? ***read description

Question

Student finance in England is a government funded loan to help you complete your studies. They pay for the university fees and you can obtain a maintenance loan based on yours and your parents income. There are other loans to help but aren’t relevant to the question.
There are 2 plans within this loan for when you graduate. Plan 1 is that you don’t repay until you earn over £21,000 a year and plan 2 (my plan) you don’t pay anything until you earn over £25,000. 
My loan has started at £46,683 and I have had a statement come through to say it is now at £48,203. I am still under the threshold of paying it back as they would not deem my salary enough to live and pay it. 
THE QUESTION:
So if the government sets these plans and these earning scales to avoid creating issues where people can’t live as they’re paying too much is it unfair to charge interest? I would pay back small amounts if I could but I literally am not allowed.
Once over the threshold I believe it’s fair to charge interest as it would encourage the person to make more payments if possible within their salary. 
But to charge interest on something that I cannot control seems absurd to me. 
Side note: I am using my information as a discussion point as it’s interesting to seee the actual numbers and interest charged.

Answer

Student loans in nz are interest free but if you work they take a percentage out of your pay, they only charge interest if you leave the country for more then 6 months I think or a year

Answer

Watch “martins money tips student loans” on YouTube. It makes loans and interest sound so much less scary. In reality you’re unlikely to be paying it all back. You’re only going to be paying back 9% of your earnings OVER £25,000. So if you’re earning £26,000 you’ll only be paying the 9% of £1000. It’s best to think of it as just an extra 9% tax. So instead of 20% tax it’s 29%.

Answer

I quite like how the system is in the UK for paying back student loans, apart from the interest. It’s very weird to me that they’d charge interest at all, especially at a point when you can’t actually pay your loan back. If it was interest free, I’d say our system is amazing.

Answer

Canada you do pay interest on student loans, as of 3 months after you are done your schooling. 
You can thank our former PM as of today’s daddy for that one. 
I really believe they should be interest  free because you spend so many years paying them back and it seems like a never ending amount of debt.

Answer

Wait so they continue to charge you interest while you cannot pay anything?

Answer

No. I don't think it should have interest charges. Furthering your education shouldn't be a punishment that you have to pay interest on.

Answer

What if you never find a job that puts your salary over the limit? Do they count your spouse if you marry? Do they keep adding interest after so long of not making the amount they set? And no, there should not be interest on student loans, especially since they placed the restrictions on it. Personally, I think they should be free of interest regardless.

Answer

Here in the US some of your loans start gaining interest 6 months after you obtain them, and some don't gain interest until after you graduate (thankfully they're put on hold if you go back to school). None of my loans have an interest rate over 8% (lowest is 3%) but I've heard about some horror stories of rates over 10%. And in order to not pay them off (like you are) you either have to be accepted into an IDR (Income Driven Repayment) program - my husband and I were and are currently paying $0 and probably will be again next year - or just default on your loans, which effects your credit which effects your ability to rent, get a mortgage, buy a car, get credit cards to build your credit, etc. There are forgiveness programs in place, but 99% of applicants were denied this year. But in both cases, your interest keeps collecting until you pay the whole thing off.

Answer

If they won't even let you pay the interest then they shouldn't charge it. Is not your fault nothing is getting paid.

Do you think government student finance loans should charge interest? ***read description

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