Older people are being urged to go back to University

The over 60s will be able to access a student loan in order to study at university

15:40 21 February 2013

The government has announced that people over the age of 60 years old will be able to sign up for a student loan so that they can go to university. The announcement came from the Higher Education Minister on Wednesday.

This comes following a report which claimed that older citizens may become responsible for the state of the economy in years to come. As the retirement age has gone up in recent years, with people living for longer, the government’s idea seems to be that the over 60s could be retrained.

 

The Higher Education Minister David Willetts reportedly sees modern skill-sets as being important when it comes to the over 60s group.

 

The student loan, which helps individuals to cover their university tuition fees, was open to people who wanted to pursue higher education in England up until the age of 54. This looks set to change.

 

Mr Willetts said. “The regime now is there is no age limit on fee loans.”

 

He explained that education is not only for younger people; “Higher education has an economic benefit in that if you stay up to date with knowledge and skills you are more employable.”

 

Mr Willetts added: “There will be people of all ages who will want to study. There is great value in lifelong learning.”

 

It is thought that many older people who may have spare time look to taking up courses out of interest.

 

Although, the concept of the over 60s going back to university has not been greeted warmly by all. Some people have gone against the idea, saying that the would-be pensioners may not want to take on extra debt that this type of loan would offer.