If you could afford to how many years of education would you fund for your children

I can comfortably fund HE study for my dcs and would be happy to fund undergrad and any postgrad studies. I recognise it's a bit of a luxury (I've studied 2 undergrads and a postgrad with no parental financial support) but I see it as a worthwhile thing and we have the surplus funds for it. I'd want them to apply for any available funding but it's competitive so I'd still be prepared to fund it if they couldn't get funding.

You have the money and are happy to spend it on education. I would absolutely fund every penny of my child's education if I could afford it. I don't understand why someone wouldn't as long as they are attending, getting good grades and not taking the piss.

I don't think you need to balance the spending and give everyone an equal amount. Each child is different and has different needs/wants.

sorry my mistake- it used to be that PPE (that 3 subject combo) was quite Oxford specific but I see that it's now much more broadly offered.

My whole career was in education so maybe I am biased but I think what you're doing is wonderful and I applaud any parents doing this if they have the means. Education isn't just about securing a job so if your DC are fortunate enough to have an extended period of study, research or training then that's a positive aspect to their lives, whatever they do in future.

He's doing PPE undergrad at Oxford? Has he tried applying for finance/ IB grad jobs just off the back of that? Banks are generally pretty degree agnostic from top tier unis other than for some v specific roles which are kind of hybrid Finance/ tech.

Doesn’t sound like money is any object so my view is offered on that basis. If you’re funding the physio training (which sounds materially different to a Masters or standard PhD), I’d probably even things up by supporting the others to get established in their careers. For example, expenses while undertaking an internship, or some money towards a room in London or wherever moving to would offer good opportunities. Not indefinitely, but if you’re doing it for one you should do it for all.

Honestly OP, you sound loaded. If you can afford to buy them all houses, why are you worried about whether to help them get going in their careers?

As an academic (sciences) I am horrified by the idea of parents funding PhDs (or indeed students self funding) and wish our university would not allow this.

The number of PhD students should be limited to those who win scholarships. That is already too many.

There are too many junior academics chasing too few jobs, and supervisors are spread too thin with too many students.

I agree that a balance is best here.

I do think you value things you have worked for more.

I have a friend whose parents funded unlimited education for him. He did 1 masters degree, 1 second undergraduate degree, started but did not finish 2 other masters degrees and left two PhDs unfinished. He now works in the same area he did after his first undergraduate degree

There is no way he would have been as casual about his own money

It increasingly seems like salary and costs to qualify to get that salary are getting massively out of whack for a number of professions, whereas the really well paid jobs often only need a bachelors or your employer will pay to train you.

It's tricky- the balance between being supportive but also recognising that industries where you pay to train yourself are maybe not the ones to go for- when I was an undergrad I was moaning to a family friend about how some of my friends could afford to do unpaid internships in super cool and interesting industries whereas I couldn't and he said "never work in an industry with unpaid internships as standard - basic supply and demand" and he was right.

Do you really think it’s “spiteful” to want to teach your child that they have to take some responsibility for their choices and understand that life costs money? I’m not criticising, this just worries me. I’m in a position to fund, but am worried my child is growing up thinking that this is what they are entitled to without truly understanding the cost. So I’m trying to find a balance.

Dd is doing a 5 year degree spread out with two years of placement in industry. So 7 years total but 5 years of fees, accommodation. This is how long it takes to qualify so it was all or nothing for us we felt. No point in only funding three years.

We're far off that stage of our lives but if we could afford it we'd do what you are doing. We wouldn't try to even it out by giving the other kids extra money to make up for extra years of funding - by "only" studying four years they will be making their own money three years earlier so they won't be any worse off.

I would fund undergraduate BSc/BEng/MEng in full and possibly a masters but only if it was a clear continuation such as an industry-specific MSc/MEng. I don't think that a PhD that is not fully funded is worth doing. I don't think an MBA is ever worth doing (based on the fact that everyone I know who has one is a dickhead).

Interesting you think the Civil Service values unrelated masters - my friend's ds had an unrelated phd and they told him he'd get no special allowances for it.

I know this is not the point of the thread, and not having a go at anyone as we all want the best for our kids, but it is so sad that the UK has become so divided. Those with parental support being able to buy education, stay in education longer, and not enter their working lives with huge debts. What a shit show this country has become.

Anyway, to answer the question, I would support Under Grad degree or similar but would expect them to get a part-time job to contribute towards their living expenses.

I came on here to say most of this. I would fund a masters - I guess any degree could be 'pointless' if the DC is not that motivated or taking it seriously, but there are many professions (e.g. civil service) where doing a masters in an unrelated subject can give you an edge over other candidates because you have more developed critical thinking and communication skills and generally broader cultural capital. Many friends from my humanities masters and PhD programmes who left academia went on to get competitive graduate jobs (fast stream, accountancy grad schemes with top firms) that you don't technically 'need' postgrad for but it turned out most of their cohort had it. So I don't expect an obvious 'return' on my 'investment' in further study.

But I wouldn't fund a PhD, at least in the UK - so many candidates want to do it so they can pursue an academic career and it's really really hard to get into. We're meant to try and recruit PhD students, but I never encourage candidates to self-fund (or get their parents to pay) as even the ones who get full scholarships struggle to make a career out of it, and those ones are already at an advantage as they can demonstrate that they can win funding bids. I also always make sure my students have an alternative career plan and are happy going into it knowing that they may not get an academic job at the end.

It's tricky for OP re 'making it fair' because if she's funded a totally sensible 3-year vocational doctorate for DC1, she can't then refuse if DC2 wants to do a PhD and try for an academic career which may be unrealistic.

I wouldn't self fund a PhD, if it can't get funding, then it isn't a valuable area of research.

If it's standard professional development, your DS should get a job for a few years at the lower level and his company would likely fund it. He'd be better off then than if you were paying to get him a bit of a leg up.

A funded PhD stipend will be about £22k tax free, and PhD students can make about £25ph tutoring, so they don't need your support.

I wouldn't feel the need to even it up, but I would think carefully about boundaries and apply them equally.

I funded school from 11 to 18 then all uni costs.Luckily my sons work paid for his masters.

Thank you for sharing this but it's really quite depressing to hear, I don't know how the Gov ever got away with coming up with a scheme like that - it really is quite shocking.

All of it OP. about to fund a four year undergrad course fully for DD in the US and will fund whatever DS needs as he gets to higher Ed.

Though uni is uncertain for him and we might put the same amount into a flat for him to live in (ASD).

If I have the money, my children can have as much as they need.

I don’t think it’s necessarily helpful to fund education indefinitely and unconditionally. It means that the DC isn’t really having to appraise the opportunity fully and is likely to be tempted by the easier option - so many people doing masters and unfunded PhDs which nobody cares about and which probably won’t massively enhance career or earnings prospects.

Totally agree but it sounds like the OP is in a country where postgraduate degrees are more necessary to get into some careers. So it might be different for her.

In the UK, many postgraduate degrees are just very expensive ways to avoid getting a job so I would want to keep an open mind and not promise my kids indefinite funding for all education because yay education.

But if they wanted to do a specific post-grad degree that was worthwhile, that might be different

Totally agree!