Student loans mount

More students borrowed money and fewer students paid their loans off last year, according to the Inland Revenue Department annual report.

The report, tabled in Parliament yesterday, said total loan borrowings under the scheme rose from $7.4 billion to $8.4 billion during 2006/07. There were 11,951 borrowers who repaid their loan this year compared with 16,287 last year.

At June 30, 499,259 students had loans, compared with 470,507 last year. The median value of a student loan was $11,087 in 2006/07 compared with $10,652 last year.