Single Parent and Uni

[Dream23]

Hi I'm a single mum to one dd and I'm planning to go to university next year to do a nursing degree.. I'm just really worried about finances. Has anyone ever gone to university while claiming universal credit? I've read it's not very helpful when you're on universal credit as they count your loan/grant as income. I don't get much child maintenance either so finances are already tight. If anyone has done the same and could tell me if it's manageable it would be really helpful thanks!

[ForkingBullshirt]

I'm a lone parent in my first year at uni.
I'm not gonna lie, it's tough but doable.
I don't get any housing benefit or tax credits but i do get the higher amount of maintenance loan and I get a bursary from the uni itself as I have a (very) low income. I also don't get any child maintenance.

I'm not broke by any stetch but i have to be careful. Its worth finding out if your uni have discretionary bursaries for low income households.
Good luck!

[Dream23]

Thankyou for your reply, it's good hear it's not completely impossible!! There's a special support grant of up to £5500 but I don't know if I'd get the full amount or just a proportion, it's hard to budget when I have no idea how much money I'll have!

[Jde25]

Hey, I wasn’t on universal credit for my undergrad degree but it was very manageable. I’m now on universal credit and doing my masters degree (student loans etc are very very different on masters..I don’t get any financial assistance for being a parent (student support grants, childcare etc) - I get just over £10,000 loan for the duration of the degree and that includes paying tutition fees). My loan is classed as income too. It’s hard financially this time round but it’s not undoable. I think you have to really want the qualification to stick it out and you probably wouldn’t be that much worst off than if you didn’t do the degree because you will be far better off in the long run and working towards such a great achievement makes the financial difficulties worth it :) I would never discourage a single mum to do a degree if they are dedicated, my only advice is make sure you pick something vocational. I didn’t and need my masters to top up my degree because there are no jobs in my field and they do not pay great. Take all the financial help you can frim the university - they often do student support funds where they help with financial costs. My university paid for some of my driving lessons!!