Interest rate hike on student loans off the job
The bullet is through the church: the bill to increase the interest on student debts has been definitively dropped. Minister van Engelshoven received too little support from the Senate.
Picture: National government
Last year, with the smallest possible majority, the House of Representatives approved the plan to increase the interest on student debts from 2020. The cabinet wanted to link the interest to the 10-year interest rate on government loans, so that former students with an average loan (21 euros) and an above-average income would pay more interest than 12 euros a month. The plan should ultimately yield the treasury some 226 million euros per year.
Accessibility
But last week the Senate saw little in the way of Van Engelshoven's bill and feared the accessibility of higher education. Even her own D66 faction and the one-man faction Duthler, who could avoid a majority with her vote, were not convinced.
The minister took her bill back for deliberation in the Council of Ministers. Yesterday she withdrew her bill. 'During the plenary debate, I found that there was insufficient support for this,' she writes in a statement.
Victory
The student unions are happy with the news. Tom van den Brink, chairman of the Interurban Student Consultation: “We gave strong criticism for almost a year, and it has been heard. This is a huge win for students and access to education. ”
Chairman of the National Student Union, Carline van Breugel: “Over the past year we fought very hard against the interest rate hike. Now that this has been successful, students can breathe a sigh of relief. ”
