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Does it cost parents a lot if child goes to uni?

58 replies

fessmess · 21/07/2016 16:59

Obviously I know they can get a student loan but does this cover everything? My dd is 16 so just thinking of what lies ahead. I want to do a course myself but will have to self-fund by remortgaging house. Am u setting myself up for future of debt?

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fessmess · 21/07/2016 17:03

Bumpity-bump

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Groovee · 21/07/2016 17:05

I'm expecting we'll have to help dd out. But by how much I have no idea.

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CodyKing · 21/07/2016 17:09

I think most have to get part time jobs for spends.

Also depends on parents circumstances I think

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CuboidalSlipshoddy · 21/07/2016 17:11

I want to do a course myself but will have to self-fund by remortgaging house

Why? If you haven't already been to university, you're as entitled to a loan as your daughter is.

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wobblywonderwoman · 21/07/2016 17:12

It costs a lot but I did it alone. Parents didn't support me at all.

That said, when our DC turn five I am going to save for them. Perhaps 100 each. If they dont wish to go for uni it might help with home purchasing.

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DelphiniumBlue · 21/07/2016 17:16

Student loan does not cover everything.
By way of example, my son's rent and bills ( electricity etc, not food) takes all his loan. We pay for phone, trips home , and the odd supermarket shop and he also gets 100 pm from grandma. The reality is that this covers food ( just, and he is a savvy shopper and a good cook). He has no money over for outings, clothes, drinks etc unless we send him money. And the rent isn't covered over the summer - the loan isn't calculated to last a full year. If you are in halls ( which he couldn't afford) then rent is for 9 or 10 months, I think, but private rented places are for a full year, so 12 months. This means we have to cover at least 3 months rent.
And don't assume a job will be available - on some courses working isn't advised, and my son has been unable to find a summer job so far, despite about 40 applications. They all want experience. So you do need to budget, I reckon realistically at least 2k pa on top of loan.

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FruitCider · 21/07/2016 17:16

It depends what kind of course they want to do. If it's an art degree they can get away with working 20 hours a week. I've just finished a nursing degree with a 3 year old daughter and worked 1 day a week in term time when not on placement, and full time in holidays. So earning capacity is limited by some degrees. Also it will depend on how much student loan she is entitled to, what area of the country she wants to study, and how much living expenses are in those areas.

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Lou2711 · 21/07/2016 17:18

It's pricey, and only getting pricier!! I needed help as my loan didn't cover my accommodation, never mind my living costs. Trying to work a job in can be difficult depending on the hours and demand of the course. I had to rely on my overdraft and working summers to pay it off with help from parents

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AndNowItsSeven · 21/07/2016 17:19

A full loan will cover everything, if your dx does not revive the full loan then you the parent should top up the loan to at least the loan amount.

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gillybeanz · 21/07/2016 17:20

Mine know that they have to be self funding as we don't have the extra to give them.
We told them at an early age so they started pt work at 14 and ft at 16 whilst studying FE. By the time it came to uni they had enough and just got a loan to cover fees.
Might be harder with remaining dc as fees have gone up and she wants to go to London, she has 6 years to work and save Grin

If you can't afford it then they have to fund themselves. it does them no harm. I used to worry about money and helping the dc along a bit, but found they were far more mature and independent because they had to be.
They manage, sometimes better than their peers who are funded and financially supported throughout by parents.

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fessmess · 21/07/2016 17:22

Thanks for replies guys. Re my own situation I already have a degree so can't get a loan.

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CuboidalSlipshoddy · 21/07/2016 17:23

So you do need to budget, I reckon realistically at least 2k pa on top of loan.

It will vary from case to case, because the loans are larger for people from lower income houses. The flat minimum loan is fees plus £3 821 living away from home not in London, more in London, less if living at home. That applies for household incomes more than (roughly, from memory, etc) £50 000, or where your parents are not willing to disclose their income. At the other extreme, for very low household incomes it can be £8 200.

it is not possible to live as a student on £3 821, nor are you expected to. Parents may have to find upwards of £5 000 per year. This is cheaper than going to university in the 1980s with parents with roughly equivalent incomes (the minimum grant was £0 in 1985).

It is perfectly possible to live rather well as a student outside London on £8 200. Particularly as (pro tip) some universities give substantial bursaries and scholarships to students entitled to the maximum loan.

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DelphiniumBlue · 21/07/2016 17:24

A full loan does not cover everything. My son gets a full loan ( see post above.)
And he works harder and longer doing an art degree than ds1 did doing maths, his uni recommend not working during term time because of the amount of hours the students need to put in.

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antimatter · 21/07/2016 17:27

Student loan is likely to cover most if not all of the accommodation for my dd (36 or 39 weeks). I am planning to give her £250 pm she is at uni and she has to learn to budget that for food, trips back home, outings, for the months she is at home she has to go by with much less. She can go eand get part time job if she wants to have more money.

I hope that will be enough, she is going to be hopefully somewhere in the Midlands.

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HarrietSchulenberg · 21/07/2016 17:27

My children are 15, 13 and 9 and I am advising them not to go to university as a degree is no more beneficial than a well-researched apprenticeship, unless your child wants to study medicine, be a vet, or pursue a career for which higher education is required, obviously.
If there's another route, take it.
£27k+ of student loan debt is not worth it, I'm afraid, and I speak as a graduate and as someone who's worked in higher education.

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MachiKoro · 21/07/2016 17:34

Full loan does not cover living. Hall fees at Durham, for example, are £7500, and you have to live in college for the first year.

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ICantFindAFreeNickName2 · 21/07/2016 17:40

My son got the minimum loan and in his first year, living in halls, it only covered about 75% of his accommodation costs ! Luckily we could afford (ie not have any holidays) to give him the other 25% and enough for him to live on.

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Haffdonga · 21/07/2016 17:41

Yes. it's expensive for parents.

DS went last year. We were assessed as near the bottom of the financial ladder so ds was awarded some grant as well as full loan value. (Grants have now stopped so anything you get will be loan.) The loan plus grant he got covered his catered hall fees just, but not on an equal termly basis. So his hall fees in his first term were greater than his loan and he needed Bank of Mum to help. All additional costs - lunch, travel to and from home, books (ha!), socialising, phone etc etc etc needed parental top up.

Next year he's sharing a house and his rent will be much less than hall fees but we've had to fork out for 3 months rent for the summer before he gets next year's loan. Guess who paid for that.

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GooseFriend · 21/07/2016 17:47

It'll depend on income but in my experience the average student will need the same again on top of their loan even if they have a job. Many degrees are 25+ hours a week contact time, many have placements, a few don't allow term time working so 'just get a part time job' is a bit rich for many people. It is assumed that parents will help - hence loans being based on their pay - and outside of mumsnet I have never met anyone who didn't help their kids with uni. Mumsnet can be quite weird with the whole 'they're 18 they do it themselves thing'. But that's not relevant here really.

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MuffyTheUmpireSlayer · 21/07/2016 17:50

My parents never had to give me a penny when I was at uni in London, and that was only 3 years ago. Loans covered most of my necessities, I applied for every grant and bursary going and also worked part time.

Student loan repayments are so low I don't really see the point in funding it outright. Maybe there's something I'm missing here, but I really don't!

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FruitCider · 21/07/2016 18:07

Halls are a want, not a necessity. Shared houses are much cheaper. £400 a month cheaper.

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CuboidalSlipshoddy · 21/07/2016 18:17

Shared houses are much cheaper. £400 a month cheaper.

They must be nearly free, then. My elder is paying £1300 per term in rental in hall, a total of £3900 per year. Given shared houses are usually at least a nine month contract, you're saying you can get a room in a shared house for £33 per month, in a city where housing costs are amongst the highest in the country?

Or is it, indeed, the case that it all depends on which University you are going to?

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FruitCider · 21/07/2016 18:25

Local halls are £8000 a year! Not in London either....

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FruitCider · 21/07/2016 18:27

Average student rent in shared house including bills is £4800 a year, eg £400 a month, not £9k for 9 months.

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phoenix1973 · 21/07/2016 18:27

Oh great.🙄

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