Proposals to free up to Pounds 1 billion for education by changing the national accounts were backed this week by a former senior Treasury official.
Dr Bill Robinson, director of top economic consultants London Economics, said student loans could be regarded as an investment with a long-term return - leaving leeway for extra cash to be raised within public borrowing limits.
Economists Nick Barr and Iain Crawford, from the London School of Economics, have estimated the move could bring in an extra Pounds 1 billion a year.
