Dh going to uni aged 58 - worried about money!

He already does pull his weight at home.

He's been unemployed because he couldn't work because of disability. Meanwhile the OP has financially supported the whole family and done the bulk of housework. As he ages, his disability will get worse. He isn't going to be running a successful business in three years time, a few years off retirement. He needs to pull his weight at home, instead.

Honestly I can't see a bachelor's degree in psychology opening up a career. I know this because my son did one and is now doing a diploma in something different which might actually lead to a job.

There’s nothing in the job market. I know of two people, both with degrees, who have been job hunting assiduously for months. Nothing, one of them is prepared to do anything and has been turned down for shelf stacking.

The op said he's only done diplomas in IT he hasn't got a degree.

The op said he wants to run a business. If that's all that's available on the job market then I don't blame him for going back to studying. If he's serious then why not it will work out in the long term.

What should he do put his feet up and wait to die? There is 75 year olds running big businesses and managing them. Their children won't be coming back home once they go that's it. They will probably meet the love of their life and live with them. After living independently why would want to go home to mummy and daddy.

It would have plugged the hole in his CV. He is wasting his time going to University. I'm 58 next birthday. My peer group is 52-62, we are getting jobs, just not full time and barely on a living wage. What's available does vary, where we are there isn't work for the under 20s, even Macdonalds and KFC etc are staffed by older people. We are lucky that there's a few B&Qs, M&S, Sainsbury's etc, who like older workers.

Sure but the point remains. He can work in the sector he says he wants to and is the point of the degree, alongside the degree or modules, or without.

A second degree is a bit different from what the OPs DH is proposing, as it wouldn't be eligible for student finance.

Because he will get a student loan to cover them which he will likely never pay back.

My friends DP did this though younger but second degree. Ended up running out of money and working as autism support without having finished it.

Given his experience could he look at working as a TA, SEN support or a private tutor specialising in autism and IT and could do modules of psychology via Open Uni alongside this

*Not sure on the exact requirements for this in the UK now.

On what basis will the tuition fees be free? Have I missed something?

I think the tone of this thread is really disheartening.

The man has had to retire due to MND. He’s interested in doing a degree that may or may not actually be useful- but not everything in life is a box-ticking exercise of how useful it is.

What is he supposed to do with his life? It’s not hard to understand why he wants to find something new to engage his brain and give him back some of what he lost when he had to stop working.

I get that it presents financial challenges, but they’re far from insurmountable, and it really needs to be looked at in the light of it being an investment in his continued to keep living and keep hold of something closer to normalcy.

Unless it just can’t be done, I think you should try your best to make it happen.

Where is the unfairness? The husband can contribute to the family pot from his loan, OP carries on working, and the daughter can get a job like the vast majority of students do. Seems fine to me.

Yes but £27k isn’t a high salary and most people will end up on a lot higher than that. If that’s the threshold they are expected to pay back, it’s actually lower that what I would have expected it to be, given the cost of living and the fact the minimum wage isn’t much lower.

I was referring to the debate about student loans and thresholds for paying back and taxpayers etc, not op’s situation.

I disagree I think it is relevant. If a middle earner can't afford to pay the extra and their DC cannot afford university without working and OP's DH gets a SL how is that fair?

The talk about who pays what is irrelevant to op and is derailing the thread a little. Maybe start a new thread ?

I know but some DC take out loans which we have to top up that are not paid back so we do help keep the education system afloat. I agree,by the way, that we should.

Yes he does, but that’s because it’s such a lot of money for parents to pay off in one big chunk, they’d be financially better off keeping it in a high interest account and earning on it.

He says it because some people want to get rid of the ‘debt’ asap, but as he says, it doesn’t need to be paid back in one go as it’s the biggest and best low interest loan to take out. He’s absolutely right

Sure, but even on Plan 5 (people who started from 2023) there'll be loads of people who won't earn enough to ever pay it back - £27K minimum salary assuming they will be working consistently for 40 years. There will also be people who take breaks from work.

Nothing is free, someone has to pay. It’s like insurance, the more people claim the higher it gets for the rest of us. The more peope don’t pay back their loans, the higher the cost for everyone else. (The next generation)

No you’re not. Your kids are getting the money unless you’re making transfers into random students’ accounts.

Of course they go for various reasons but once they reach the threshold (which isn’t that high) they’ll have to start paying it back! Most people want to earn as much as possible because life’s hard and they want to get out of poverty. I think you’re living in the 90’s when it was free!