Student debts are on the rise. Universities are demanding higher fees and that means that students, at least those who don’t have well off and generous parents, have to borrow more money to pay them.

Of course this is not how the government tells us it sees it. According to the government paying to get educated is an investment in one’s future, presumably in much the same way as borrowing more money is an investment in the country’s future.

Have you ever asked where does the government borrow all this money from? If you don’t know the answer you might be a little surprised. It is in fact from you and me pal – yes it is us who have lent this country some forty odd billion pounds this year. This is done through the issue of gilts which are sold via the Debt Management Office and other government bonds that are bought by investors such as pension funds using our money.

Getting back on track, the cost of getting educated is going up. This is how it breaks down. Tuition fees are currently £3,225 per year. These are going up; in fact Lord Patten the chancellor of Oxford University says that they are “preposterously low”; expect £5,000 before too long.

Then there are living expenses, and nowadays living isn’t cheap. Even cider has gone up 10%. The average cost for food, rent, travel and entertainment at University is around £690 outside London and considerably more inside.

That means, that to be a student for three years will cost you pretty close to £84,000. That is a serious amount of cash. Naturally you can work during the vacations to save some money; in fact most students need to.

It takes on average around15 years to repay a student loan, and sometimes a lot longer. Then there are credit card debts, student rate overdrafts which have a nasty habit of metamorphosing into standard rate overdrafts shortly after graduating.

Getting educated is a costly affair.