The interest rate on student loans will fall from 2.57 to 2.33 percent next year, after three years of increases. This has been announced by DUO (in Dutch).
Every year, a new interest rate is set for student loans. For years, this rate was zero percent: students could, in principle, borrow “for free”. But this changed in 2023: the interest rate suddenly rose to 0.46 percent. A year later, the rate jumped to more than 2.5 percent.
Slot machine
“The interest rate on student loans is like a slot machine, with your future as the stake,” says Sarah Evink, chair of the Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg (ISO). “There is constant uncertainty about the ever-changing costs of borrowing.”
Evink emphasises that with an interest rate of 2.33 per cent, “(former) students still pay more than half of their student debt in interest.” Anyone who repays ten thousand euros of debt over 35 years has to pay five thousand euros in interest on top of that.
Several political parties are addressing this issue in their new election manifestos. For example, D66, DENK and Volt want to cap the interest rate on student loans at 2.5 per cent. In their view, the “unlucky generation” (who were not entitled to a basic grant) should not have to pay any interest at all. The Partij voor de Dieren and the SP want to set the interest rate at zero for everyone.
HOP, Naomi Bergshoeff
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