Am I being naive by planning not to fund my 4 kids thru uni?

[deepest]

Is there enough loan facilities that they can pick up the debt themselves?

[SoonToBeSix]

Totally depends on your income if you earn below 25k they will be fine.

[itsbetterthanabox]

It depends how much you earn. Over a threshold they get a much lower loan and no bursarys etc. the loan companies expect you to pay a certain amount, it used to be 1100 a year they factored in. However a lot of selfish parents don't so people such as my partner were fucked.

[StrangeGlue]

They will not be able to borrow enough to cover all their costs so will need to live at home/work at the same time/incur high interest bank loans etc. loans are also means tested on parents so if you earn more they will be able to borrow less.

[StrangeGlue]

They will not be able to borrow enough to cover all their costs so will need to live at home/work at the same time/incur high interest bank loans etc. loans are also means tested on parents so if you earn more they will be able to borrow less. The government assumption is there will be some form of parental support and the system is tailored to that.

[HPparent]

DD's loan will just about cover the cost of accommodation, even at one of the cheaper options, not en-suite etc. DH and I will have to cover living costs, books etc. DD will also have to work part time. I think she will end up living off the loan and we fund the accommodation as it has to be paid upfront.

We are not rich but both work full time so are at the upper end of the threshold.

[SoonToBeSix]

Strange yes they will if parental income is less than 25k you have 8.5k in a combination of student loan and maintenance grant. More than enough considering uni is less than forty weeks a year.

[BackforGood]

Does depend on both your income, and your disposable income.
I've posted the figures on this other thread Here but if your household earn above average wage, then your dcs will only be able to get student loans for set amounts.
Depending where they are in the Country and what the accommodation is like, the annual loan either barely covers the rent, or, in many cases, doesn't even cover the rent. Depends how important you think it is that they eat.

[ZenGardener]

I think if you can afford to put a little away every month then you should try to do so. It's hard for us to do so but we make the effort. Who knows what the system will be 10/15 years from now.

[OddBoots]

There is no guarantee they will be able to afford to go if you don't help, the loans don't cover all the costs for most students. Many students do work to support themselves but it depends what course they want to do as some won't have enough time.

[Artandco]

Soon - isn't student fees £9000 a year now anyway?

I think it's naive yes. The uni fees alone will already give them a debt of almost £30k, without student loans for food/ accomadation/ life. You have to start paying back fairly soon I think once earning £15k which you would hope is soon after spending so much to get qualification

Our children are 3 and 4. We have saving accounts for them to cover any higher education. We are aiming for £20k each by the time they are 18. Family contribute annually also to build it up

[LadySybilLikesCake]

I have a plan for this. Ds is going to stay at home, take out a full student loan but put it into a high interest bank account which pays more than the interest rate of the loan (if he can find one). He's the going to sell ink cartridges/proof reading at uni to fund himself. All he needs to pay for at home is a contribution towards food as I'd need to pay for gas/electricity/rent anyway. I hate the idea of him starting his working life saddled with tens of thousands of pounds of debt. When he's finished his course he should owe little/nothing.

[queenofthemountain]

soon halls are usually about 42 weeks , but they will need to find another 2 or 3 weeks deposit on top of that.But after the first year house lets are on a 52 week contract.

[deepest]

Might have to get mine to live at home then as cant see how we can support all 4 of them if at uni simultaneously/back to back. Lots of decent unis in commuting distance.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

Halls are expensive. My deposit was a few weeks rent and it wasn't all returned at the end because they had to clean my carpet (was stained when I moved in) and they had to redecorate the staircase (other people had knocked the paint it as they were moving in but it had made grey marks on the paint). The first house I moved into, the landlady wanted the first term's rent before I received my student loan.

[jellybeans]

If you are middle income but not enough to be well off you may struggle. However they will have to work part time to make up the difference, loads of students do. I wouldn't worry too much.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

Wise plan, deepest. A lot of uni's do courses via distance learning. A lot of courses are not full time 9-5 Monday to Friday either so it can work out better if they live at home and commute as they are unlikely to need to go in every day. Holidays are long, then there's reading weeks so they are not in Uni as much as you think.

[deepest]

LadySybil - I will have to think of something similar.
Who remembers "Charles in Charge" - always thought that the live in student au pair deal looked sensible - or living with an elderly person who has a spare rooms in return for shopping, cooking, cleaning....

[queenofthemountain]

Ladysybill
A few things wrong with your plan

1. They get substantially less money if they live at home.
   
2. They pay RPI+3% on their student loan which is currently about 6.5% I believe.Good luck with finding a high interest bank account that pays much over that.

[SoonToBeSix]

Artandco the 8.5k is in addition to student fee loans , they are maintenance loan and grant.

[SoonToBeSix]

Queen your dc have been unlucky if they had to pay 52 week contracts on student houses . It must depend on area because everyone I know has been able to secure term time only let's.

[BackforGood]

Not everybody has that sort of disposable income though Artandco

Thing is LadySybil - when they are 18, then might have their own ideas of where they want to go / which course they want / where they want to live. My ds is adamant (and to be honest, I agree with him) that a key part of going to University is living away from home.
Yes, he'll have to find work, and I'm aware that might not be as easy in some places as it is at others, but he'd really struggle if we weren't in a position to be able to subsidise him a bit.

[BackforGood]

Someone said that on another thread earlier today soontobesix, and I was really surprised, as I know several students, all of whom have had to pay for the full year once they come out of halls and into private lets.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

I know about 1, queen. He won't need a student loan to live off and he won't be paying bills except for a small contribution towards food, which he should be able to cover out of his earnings.

2 is pitifully low though

There are Universities in Europe which are free for UK students. The EU pay the fees and there's bursaries for living expenses - Norway, Sweden, Netherlands. Bear in mind the cost of living in Scandinavia is a lot higher than in the UK though as their tax rate is higher. France charge fees but less than the UK. A lot of courses are taught in English, so your DC could branch out a little further to cut costs down.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

True, BackforGood. Personally I couldn't wait to get away from home so I jumped at the first course I could which was far enough for me to do this. Staying at home doesn't suit everyone.