Graduate earnings seem to be improving so that more graduates are paying off their student loan debts. The Student Loans Company said that the proportion deferring their loan repayments fell from 48 per cent of total graduate debtors last year to 45 per cent this year. Only those earning more than Pounds 17,784 this year were likely to be refused deferral. While the total number deferring increased by a quarter from 361,000 to 452,000 over the same period, the total number of graduate debtors had increased by a third to one million.