funding, costs and admission.

[NewLife4Me]

can anybody explain the processes in easy terms.
So much keeps changing and i don't get it. My eldest did it all by himself, ds2 didn't go and I'm looking for if it will be feasible for dd in 6 years time, although it will probably have changed a lot in that time.

How much are fees, what loans or assistance is out there, how much is rent, approximate figures really.

[ssd]

I think in 6 yrs time it'll be more expensive

[LineyReborn]

Depends on how much in me is coming into the household of the resident parent.

But if you are on less than £21k a year, say, it's:

Fees £9k, loan available
£5k maintenance loan available also
£3k grant (to be abolished)
About £2k bursary available at some institutions.

The more the resident parent has coming in, the more you are expected to pay towards the adult student's costs.

Savings don't count, but interest on them does.

Halls - cost varies hugely around the country, starting at £3.5k per annum for the cheapest I've seen, up to £6k (and that's self catering outside London).

We're not even looking at London now. Simply can't afford it by the looks of things as non resident parent won't contribute.

[LineyReborn]

Sorry about the weird typos!

Does any of that make sense??

[ssd]

why is the grant being abolished?

[LineyReborn]

I read in the Guardian it was planned by the Government to convert the grant element into a loan, as part of the austerity drive, at some point in the future.

Also fees might go up in the future at some universities?

Bloody nightmare. You've got to watch this lot like a hawk.

[titchy]

Very briefly - loans should be available for fees and maintenance. Maintenance loan means tested against parental income. Currently between £4K and £8k a year. Universities may also have their own bursaries for low income households.

Loans repayable once earning over £21k a year, and repayments fixed irrespective of amount borrowed.

[ssd]

this must put an awful lot of students off uni, the debt they will leave with must be eye watering

disgusting but totally what the tories want

[LIZS]

9k is likely to rise between now and then. In London the maintenance loan is higher, 5k +, not means tested. Some Unis offer bursaries for higher achieving candidates which varies from 3 A* to 3 B's depending on institution and scholarships if certain criteria are met.

[titchy]

Absolutely no evidence students are put off ssd. Numbers of applicants continues to rise.

Govn. Policy is NOT to decrease no. Students going to university - quite the opposite. Just to get them to pay for it, or towards it more accurately.

[hayita]

The cost of delivering most university courses is over 9k per year. The cost of living away from home is at least 8k per year. We have well over a million undergraduate students. Either all of us pay more tax or the students themselves have to pay later, as a graduate tax. Very few people in the UK are willing to vote for the former, so the latter is the only real option.

BTW fees have now been frozen at 9k per year since 2012. Meanwhile university staff have seen their salaries virtually frozen, so decreasing in real terms. The direct consequence of freezing fees is that you are asking university staff to accept that their salaries will decrease year on year. This clearly isn't fair, and our top staff won't stay in the UK if this carries on much longer.

[NewLife4Me]

So atm relatively speaking you'd have a loan for tuition fees and a loan for 5k.

Can you have the maintenance loan but not the loan for fees?

I think my dd will be self funding if she can and was just looking at the possibilities and whether her type of work would earn enough.

It will be either Manchester or London, most likely the former for subject choice.

If they don't take a loan for undergrad can they carry it onto postgrad? Or would they have to have a loan for both/ or none available for post grad

The alternative would be America and I don't really want her to go

[lifeisunjust]

My eldest just finished first year.
He got a full grant, based on my income (he'll keep it, he's lucky, new applicants for new courses won't).
He took the full loan possible.
He got an extra 1k non repayable bursary, based on my income.
Grant + loan for living + bursary was roughly 8k.

His self-catering accommodation was 4.5k.
He spent 2.5k.
4.5+2= 6.5k. That leaves 1.5k surplus he'll take over to next year with holiday job money, hopefully he'll not take the loan for next year.
He's very very frugal however and also manages to enjoy himself too.
Next year it is 3.7k for his accommodation already offered to him.

Don't expect all students to manage total costs of 6.5k per year, but it is possible.

[NewLife4Me]

Thank you life you have cheered me up no end

I was thinking of saving her tax credits and cb for the next 6 years, but not sure if they'll be worth anything when the time does come.

There is no way we can fund her and i'd hate to be the one to break it to her that she couldn't go.
She has chosen her courses already or so she thinks and they are 4 years undergrad plus one year postgrad.

[NewLife4Me]

Oh sorry liney that makes perfect sense, thank you.

[titchy]

If you're on a low income you won't be funding her. She'll get the full maintenance loan.

I'm a bit concerned by what you mean by she'll be self-funding. Why wouldn't she take out a fee loan as well as maintenance loan?

By all means save tax credits and CB, but you might want to make it work better for her when the time comes - house deposit etc.

Oh and PLEASE don't get so fixed on where and what at this stage. Courses get withdrawn, added, changed. Manchester might be crap for her subject in 6 years time. What's on prospectuses now will will change in 6 years. As will she!

[lifeisunjust]

Newlife4me take a look at monesavingexpert.com and Martin Lewis' views on student funding. Those at the more modest end of the income scale find life harder (which those in the middle don't always appreciate when they complain low income children get grants, when oh boy do they deserve those grants, given the poverty many grow up in) but it should not be a barrier to going to higher education. I am very against the loss of grants, as it does scare those who don't have the means to ever help their children out when it comes to repayment of the loans. However, reading the advice of Martin Lewis, I am much calmer now.

I would yes save but in advance, but not to the detriment of your daily needs, take the student loans and hope your adult children never earn enough to have to pay them back!!!

Oh yes Lineyreborn has found the same as me, horrifed to find university self catering at 6k for the year, but seems students these days see en-suite as a basic need and that's the cost of it. I see shared showers as a way of being more sociable - no-one read into that please, it's simply I mean you see more of your flatmates when you have to come out of your room!!!!! My second son starts universtity next year, his university self-catering will be 3.5k at university of Surrey. I am more than happy, it might get covered by a bursary too.

[MrsMushrooms]

6 years is a long time, I would look more into the detail at the time as it changes so much!

However, the tuition fees aren't even worth thinking about. Whatever they are, none are paid upfront and the 'loan' for the fees isn't a real loan with set repayments, she'll just pay back a little at a time automatically as and when she's earning enough money.

[NewLife4Me]

Thanks for all the lovely posts.
I know it's ages of yet, but thought if I at least keep my knowledge up to date when the time comes I'll be equipt to understand rather than panic.
Now I can just keep a check on policies that change.

she is hoping to be able to work in the holidays from being about 14 and intends to save all she can, bless her.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

It looks like fees are going up in 2017/18 or at least the cap is being removed for some courses.

I think loans will always be made available for the full fees.

Loans for living costs are a different matter. They are currently means tested and in nay event there is a maximum amount a student can borrow. This often does not cover how much it costs to actually live, thus forcing students to live at home, take on too much paid work etc.

Grants for students of poor parents are now no longer available from the government (except those already studying), however some universities do have money available for bursaries etc.

Could you not try to earn a little OP and put some aside to help your DD?

[NewLife4Me]

GetAHaircut

I do some work presently and am looking for more, because my wages come out of dh earnings in effect, so not better off, just distributing his earnings.
I have a little profit from a house we rent out too, but most of that pays a mortgage on another property.
We can manage on one wage though so if I can find extra work it can all be saved.
it's just the fear of the future and also the fairness of our dc having to be dependant on us well into their 20"s.
I can't think of another time in history when this was the case.
Our eldest son wouldn't let me and dh have much to do with his uni application or funding at all. He was independant and wanted to be, he didn't apply for the means tested loan or fee loan, but they were only 6k when he went.
He worked ft from 16 to when he started and paid for himself.
Now it seems like dd will have to depend on us as her situation is different to ds1.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

If you could get work and save it all, it will mount up. And remember you will only need to top up your DD. The loans will cover fees and some living expenses. You're looking to provide the shortfall.

Sure, it means that your DD will be dependent upon you for some years to come, but most parents know that's going to be the case.

As for post graduate studies, well that's tricky. There is some funding, but not much. I really don't know about music as a subject, but if you look on line there should be details provided by the university. Most PG students are either funded by their parents. Some are mature students, self funding. It's an expensive part of education (and you need to be very careful. Many of these courses are complete cash cows, even at the most reputable institutions).

[NewLife4Me]

I know, it's really difficult.
Another job would help, but couldn't save much as the extra wage would be taken into account for her present fees, which is fair enough and rightly so. It could push us into the next bracket though and working would mean it all go on fees now.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

Ah.

Classic poverty trap. You need more money, but can't earn any because it will come out of benefits/bursaries.

Could you sell the second home in 6 years and free the equity? Sure, you'd get stuffed for CGT, but the lump sum wouldn't impact upon the school bursary (because you'll be done).

[GetAHaircutCarl]

Or sell the second house and roll the capital into a house in your DD's university town (saving on CGT and accommodation costs)?

[NewLife4Me]

second home pays us a small income and when the mortgage is finished in next couple of years will make us a profit.
It's our pension, so can't really sell it.

I don't think a two up two down terrace in the NW would help in London, but thank you so much for your help and suggestions.

I hope she chooses manchester
Atm, she's adamant it has to be London.

My comments about parents having to be responsible for children far later than previous, was really just observation.
I know parents have done this for years, but it seems like it was easier for young people to be independant earlier, in the past.