According to Future Finance, a quarter of postgraduate and undergraduate students in the UK owe, on average, £342 to payday loan companies.
A staggering 92.4 per cent are believed to have incurred a late charge, as well as 54.5 per cent admitting they would always make a late repayment, incurring a fine as a result.
Not only are students apparently turning to payday loan companies in large numbers, but 24 per cent have admitted they have tried to increase the amount of money they have at their disposal by gambling, and 13 per cent decided to take part in clinical trials.
Almost two-thirds of university students have part-time jobs, although more than a sixth of them claim that working has an impact on their studies. It was found that 58 per cent relied on money from their parents to keep afloat, whilst just 8 per cent claimed they were able to count on their university for financial support.
“The growing gap between the costs of education and available financing sources is still leading students to make bad choices or, in some cases, exclude them from furthering education altogether,” said Brian Norton, of Future Finance.
Nearly two thirds of university students spend a considerable amount of time worrying about their finances, with the National Union of Students (NUS) reporting that students require, on average, £8,000 more than the government provides in the form of subsidised loans.
