The decision to raise tuition fees in England sparked angry street protests
The Push university guide said average annual debts had risen 6.4% in the past year - more than inflation - to £5,680.
Researchers interviewed 2,800 students and based the projection on an average course length of 3.4 years.
Tuition fees in England will rise in 2012, but ministers say students should not be put off for financial reasons.
The survey is published a week before A-level pupils are due
to receive their results, with heavy competition expected for remaining
university places as prospective students seek to avoid the fees
increase.
Projected rise
Push researchers looked at all the debts, apart from
mortgages, accrued by students at different stages of study around the
UK, including some on longer courses such as medicine, and some
postgraduates.
They then used the rate at which debts have increased in the
past to project future rises, as well as factoring in the almost
tripling of tuition fees in England to a maximum of £9,000 from 2012.
The average predicted debt on leaving university for UK
students is £26,100 for those starting in 2011, rising to £53,400 for
2012 entrants.
For students in England, the projected average is £59,100,
with the difference largely due to the fact that Scottish students do
not have to pay tuition fees and increases for Welsh students' will be
covered by government subsidies.
The prediction assumes average tuition fees in England of £8,630 per year.
This takes into account of bursaries and fee waivers already
announced, although some universities may still offer further student
support.
Economic climate
Push publisher Johnny Rich said he thought the projection had an error margin of about 10%, and was higher than he had expected.
This was partly because debts had risen faster than inflation in the past year, he said.
This may be the result of students struggling to find
part-time and temporary jobs because of the economic climate, as well as
rising costs of expenses, such as travel and energy, he said.
Mr Rich said students may also be struggling to control their spending in the face of rising debts.
"The moment you start talking about such massive debts people
stop being so careful... they realise they're in a deep hole and small
amounts of effort won't dig them out again," he said.
But he maintained that prospective 2012 students "shouldn't be put off", as "the debt will not be a normal debt".
Regional variations
Graduates will have to pay back their loans only once they
start earning £21,000, and outstanding debt will be written off after 30
years.
However, Mr Rich said the current pattern was likely to
continue, where one-quarter of student debt is held outside the student
loans system.
This is mostly borrowed from family members, but nearly 7% is owed to banks and on credit cards.
According to the survey, average annual debt accrued by
students currently at university varies widely across the UK, from
£2,025 in Scotland to £6,231 in Wales.
Push said opportunities for paid work for students in Wales "appear to have dried up".
Most of the universities where students had the largest debts were in London.
Mr Rich said the size of debt meant it was increasingly important that students chose their university and course carefully.
"Basically you have one shot at this - you can return later
in life, but it's a very expensive option. Get it right first time," he
said.
'Lower repayments'
A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesman
said no-one should be put off going to university for financial reasons.
BIS says the majority of students will not pay £9,000 for
their tuition, no first time undergraduate will have to pay up-front
costs, and there is also a more generous package of financial support
available, including higher living-cost grants, fee waivers and
scholarships.
Ministers also point out that graduates will make lower monthly repayments than they do under the current system.
University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Sally
Hunt said: "Average student debt is already staggeringly high and is now
set to get much worse."
National Union of Students president Liam Burns raised
concerns about the extent to which students were using bank and credit
card loans.
"The fact that the government thinks it's OK to hang an
amount of debt equivalent to a small mortgage over someone's head while
they study is one thing, but leaving young people reliant on commercial
credit just to stay in education is scandalous," he said.
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