Students are angry with the government Due to increased interest rates on student loans. They feel they are not being compensated enough to study within the loan system, and now that the interest rate increase has been added, it feels like “another middle finger.”

Mies van der Ham (24 years old) studies psychology at Radboud University in Nijmegen, and this seems unfair to her. “It’s all completely ridiculous,” she began her conversation with NOS. She started borrowing seven years ago because she had no other choice.

Van der Ham says that when she started borrowing, she assumed three conditions would apply. The first is that your student debt will have no impact on getting a mortgage in the future, van der Ham says. It was also said that it would be a suitable loan. With little benefit.

“Finally, I have the impression that the income from the loan system will be invested by the government in improving the quality of education.” Van der Ham says she has a feeling none of these three happened.

It also seems like an injustice to law student Jim Hiddink. “You enter into an agreement with the government when you start borrowing, but the whole nature is changing now. It has been said that interest rates will remain low, at a maximum of 0.5 per cent.”

in letter Sent to the House by outgoing Education Minister Dijkgraaf in 2022, he wrote that it was never promised that the interest rate would remain 0 percent or that the amount of student debt would have no impact on a mortgage application. His predecessor, Jet Bussemaker, and other ministers have said in the past that consequences should be limited, and that students should not develop “borrowing anxiety”.

Students who studied under the loan scheme may be entitled to one-off compensation from the government. If you meet the right conditions, you will receive a compensation of approximately €1,400 in 2025. However, the compensation seems like a “drop in the ocean” for students. “Because of the increase in interest rates, I have to pay more interest than the full compensation I received,” says van der Ham.

Hiddink believes that the political choice of compensation is “morally questionable.” “It appears as a symbolic policy, and this symbol has no meaning at all,” he says. “If you look at where the other subsidies are going, investing in fairer compensation, which would cost at most about $20 billion, doesn’t seem out of the question to me.” Hiddink points to the many billions spent on subsidizing fossil fuels.

The National Union of Students (LSVb) also believes the €1,400 compensation is minimal. “Yes, it is compensation, but compared to what the students missed, it is absolutely nothing,” union council president Elissa Wehuizen told NOS. “Don’t get me wrong, reintroducing the Basic Grant is very good progress, but we are not there yet and I have a feeling some MPs will expect a ‘pat on the back’ after it is reintroduced.”

The question is whether high interest rates on loans prevent people from (continuing) schooling. The extra attention mainly affects people who are not well off: “This affects the most vulnerable populations,” says Wehuizen. The government reintroduced the basic grant with unequal opportunities as the main reason To reduce. But if people refrain from studying because of interest, you will achieve the opposite.

Hiddink has that impression too. “My parents have been saving to help me get a good education. They have extended a helping hand so that I can go out into the world in a financially healthy place after my studies, yet the loan system and fringe interest are still affecting me. Let me know what it’s like for students “Who didn’t receive that extra from their environment.”

“I think people will scratch their heads and wonder whether the study was wise,” Hiddink believes. He says: “Of course you have the supplementary grant, but it is not enough.”

Students feel helpless. “You can’t do anything and be ignored by the government,” says Hiddink. Both Hiddink and Van der Ham noticed frustration in their immediate environment. Van der Ham: “You feel it, you see it and you hear it everywhere around you. It is not only among students, but also among ‘adults’. Parents, for example, are worried and think this is unfair.”

However, Hiddink fears that as a student he cannot do much about it. “In the end, you just have to keep studying and hope it works out.”