Three-quarters of university graduates have student debts 

Almost three-quarters of all people who have completed a university-level education within four years have student debts. This is considerably higher than with other study types. Just over half of the students who followed an HBO bachelor's degree have student debt, and only one in five secondary vocational students are in debt. These numbers were calculated by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB).

The debts are also higher when it comes to university alumni. They have to pay an average of 12,500 euros, former HBO students still have to pay 6,300 euros on average, and secondary vocational students usually still have to pay around 900 euros.

According to the research, students whose parents have a lower income than average usually have higher student debts. Due to their parent's financial position, they are entitled to a supplementary grant of a maximum of 400 to 500 euros per month. But they have to pay it back if they are unable to obtain a diploma.

Student debts amongst students at colleges and universities have increased since the implementation of the loan system in 2015. Students who started in 2014 and obtained an HBO bachelor's degree within five years had to repay an average of 13,500 euros.

The same group from the first year of the loan system had an average debt of 21,300 euros. Moreover, there were proportionately many more students with student debt. The share of the total number of students increased from 49 percent to 65 percent.