Survey: 31% of International Students Don't Think They Will Ever Pay University Debt Off

31 percent of international students don’t think that they will ever be able to pay their loan taken for university studies, according to a survey conducted by Chegg, an American education technology company, involving 16,839 undergraduate students from 21 countries.

Countries that participated in the survey are Brazil, the US, Canada, the UK, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, India, Kenya, Indonesia, Germany, Japan, France, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Russia, and Italy.

Responding to the question, “to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about your college/ university debt? I don’t think I’ll ever pay it off” 52 percent of students in the United Kingdom said that they strongly/slightly agree.

Differently, in the United States, 52 percent of students said that they strongly/slightly disagree with the statement, while 35 percent agreed, Erudera.com reports.

In Canada, 55 percent of students don’t think that they will never pay their college debt off, but 30 percent strongly believe that they cannot pay it off.

Meanwhile in Germany, the majority of students, or 72 percent of students believe that they will be able to pay their university debt, whereas 18 percent said that they strongly agree with the statement that they will not be able to ever pay their student loans.

57 percent of students in Australia slightly or strongly disagree with the statement that they will never pay their debt off, whereas 27 percent strongly or slightly agree.

According to findings, 38 percent of students from all 21 countries who have a debt or loan for their education said that the debt makes them wish they’d made a different choice.

In the United States, 45 percent of students agree that the debt makes them wish they had made a different choice, while 35 percent disagree in this regard. In Canada as well, the college debt does not make 35 percent of students feel like they should have made another choice about their college, whereas 40 percent said the debt makes them wish they had made another choice.

According to the survey, a higher percentage of students (74 percent) agreeing that the college debt makes them wish they’d made another university choice has been seen in Saudi Arabia.

“21% of students surveyed who have a debt or loan related to their studies say it makes them so anxious they have sought medical help,” the report reads.

The same survey has revealed that jobs are the main motivation for students to continue higher studies. 21 percent of students said that they are motivated to go to college because they aim for a career that requires a degree, and 19 percent of students because of broadening their job prospects.