[ipsi]

Student Loans in the UK can work like this - you repay, I think, 9% above £25,000, and it's wiped after 30 years, regardless of how much is left. Some details may be different depending on exactly when the loan was issued.

So if you have a huge loan but a small income, it's more like a 30-year graduate tax than a loan you expect to fully repay.

[bumby]

I think the difference (if I'm understanding the U.K. situation correctly) is that in the U.K. the loan can be paid off in full prior to the end of the term, correct?

In the situation above, it acts more like an investment rather than a loan. (i.e., there's no upper bound on the payment, outside of the 5%/15 year cap, so the student may pay back more than they receive)