{"id":159990,"date":"2023-10-18T14:59:29","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T12:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=159990"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:01","slug":"increasing-interest-rates-on-student-loans-i-hope-i-will-not-have-to-take-a-bigger-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/10\/18\/increasing-interest-rates-on-student-loans-i-hope-i-will-not-have-to-take-a-bigger-loan\/","title":{"rendered":"Increasing interest rates: ‘I hope I will not have to take a bigger student loan’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After years of no interest at all, the interest rate on student loans increases rapidly. The rate will <\/span>be 2.5 percent next year. \u201cI think you\u2019re quite young to make such a decision, and now I\u2019m 22 <\/span>with a 45,000 euro loan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stephanie Dijkstra (22, Policy\nEconomics)<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSamir Abdullayev<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

After more than four years of borrowing student loans from DUO, Stephanie Dijkstra (22, Policy Economics) has to pay back 45,000 euros. Not expecting a now-inevitable increase in interest rates, her plans currently took a sudden turn. \u201cI do have some money left, but I wanted to spend it on vacations and enjoy my student time\u201d, she says. \u201cNow I will spend time on paying my loan back, which I think will take at least ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Stephanie was aware of a potential rise in interest rates, she believes DUO could do a better job in giving more information to students before taking out student loans. \u201cYou could just go to DUO, ask for a loan, and you\u2019ll get it immediately\u201d, she claims. The simplicity of getting a loan did not make matters easier for her. \u201cI was 17 or 18 when I started borrowing. Who\u2019s going to read the exact terms at that age?\u201d, she laughs. \u201cI think you\u2019re quite young to make such a decision, and now I\u2019m 22 with a 45,000-euro loan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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