It's the student season suddenly. The moment the A level results come out everyone is talking about students and their debt (mainly). I've been asked to quote twice already on it and the subject is not going to go away - not for a few years to come I think.

When I think back to my student days I didn't know I was born. I had a full grant for a start and banks were a lot more responsible in their lending habits so there was less temptation to borrow too much. Not only that but I had very little idea how to make money for myself, apart from a dress-making service I ran for fellow students around the Ball season and a haircutting service (yes, really, I used to charge £1 a time and had quite a clientele - no training, just a pair of scissors and a devil-may-care attitude).

I think that the full cost of getting a university education has not hit home yet with students or their parents. Costs rose significantly this year but it will probably take another couple of years for the real burden of it to sink in generally.

I definitely believe that part of the answer to the increasing debt burden for students is not only to cut costs (and keep away from spending temptation) but also to make money where they can. There are loads of ways of making extra cash and we certainly have a good selection of them on this site.

I have undergraduate and graduate contacts at Imperial College London and at the LSE who have even set up their own businesses (mostly online). Some are not only helping pay off the loan but are even setting them up in business for life. One 19-year-old I know at Bath University sold his first (online) business before starting university for $1.5 million. He's doing a management course at the university. I can't imagine what they think they can teach him.

All right, not everyone is an entrepreneur but most of us can start at least a small business on the side. There's a lot of potential for this for everyone which is why we have indepth information on it on this site. I think it's going to be a growing phenomenon among students and non-students alike as we all realise that the State will not be looking after us anything like it used to and it really is up to us.

What do you think? Post a comment below.