Students from Wales heading to university this September will have their student debt wiped out after 30 years, the Welsh Government has announced.
Welsh Education Minister Leighton Andrews said the new system of loan repayments was designed to be “sustainable, affordable and progressive” and that repayment was matched to ability to pay.
Graduates will start repayments once they start earning £21,000. After 30 years, outstanding balances will be written off.
In a written statement, Mr Andrews said: “The Welsh Government takes seriously is responsibility to Welsh-domiciled students, wherever they choose to study and we will preserving the principle that the state should subsidise higher education and maintain opportunities for all.
“In Wales we are leading the way in providing support to students to ensure funding isn’t a barrier to education. We have put in place the most equitable student finance system we’ve ever had, and the Welsh Government will ensure that no full-time undergraduate student ordinarily resident in Wales will pay higher fees in real terms during the lifetime of this Government than if they had been students in 2010/11.
“This will apply no matter where the student chooses to study, in Wales or elsewhere in the UK.”