New Lib Dem figures suggests that students are now £22 billion in the red.
Total student debt levels are now higher than the UK's annual transport budget, new figures from the Liberal Democrats have shown.
According to the analysis, students are now in the red by £22 billion, while transport takes up just £21 billion of public money each year. The debt burden for students was also found to have increased by £4 billion over the past year.
Lib Dem universities spokesman Stephen Williams said "Students are facing unprecedented levels of debt, which will have a dramatic long-term effect on their ability to buy homes, start families and save for old age."
Analysis from the National Union of Students also shows that the average undergraduate can expect to leave university with debts of up to £40,000 each, when new plans to raise the top-up fees cap to £7,000 are enforced.
News of the debt burden follows the release of the latest Consumer Price Index from the government. It shows a 0.3 percent increase in annual price rises for goods and services to 4.7 percent - a new 16-year high.
Students have been particularly hard hit by the inflationary trend, as they tend to spend proportionally more on items which have faced the sharpest price hikes, such as food, gas and electricity.
