Dh going to uni aged 58 - worried about money!

Yes but middle earners are made to pay the difference so we are paying towards those DC whose parents can't afford it.

Martin Lewis and every single 6th form college advises parents to allow kids to take the loans.

Why would the government advise parents not to help their kids with the cost and encourage them to take out loans instead?

Parents are expected to contribute financially, unless they’re on low wages. They want to know the financial ins and outs of the parents income before they decide what the child is entitled to as far as I know.

Of course some debts will be written off and actively expected to be, like in any business. Students don’t have to be earring 90k to be eligible to pay it back though, it’s repaid in small increments so over 30 years or so, a good whack of it will be paid off. Teachers being the prime example of graduates that will likely pay off a good chunk of it.

It’s not. Student finance is provided by private lenders. The interest they charge is set at a rate to give them a profit and mitigate unpaid loans. A certain proportion of non payment is baked into their business model. There’s no cost to the taxpayer.

I agree with this but in the Op's case her DH isn't really what the Government had in mind?!

I don't think the issue is the money tbh. A degree is all consuming it will take her DH away from contributing to the household. It will be a mental drain on OP if he is beavering away writing and studying for assignments and exams a degree is stressful and they should be supporting their DC to make sure they can make a success of their degrees.

People go to university for any number of reasons. To get away from their parents, to have more sex, because they can’t think of anything else to do, because they like learning etc. Wake up.

And doing a job for decades that pays more than NMW doesn’t guarantee you’ll pay off that debt.

According to the parliamentary library only 27% of the 2022/23 student cohort were expected to repay their loans. I think on this basis many students know they won’t ever repay them, esp if they go into careers such as teaching, nursing, the creative industries etc. At least some, if not most, will be written off - and they know this which is why they tell parent's NOT give them the money but to let them take the loans. People are being disingenuous if they think it all comes back.

But the point is that the state (the tax payer) is not in a financial transaction with students over this - it is not about giving them a loan and getting it back with interest. It is about scaffolding social mobility, having a more educated population, about the impact of high quality post graduate research and its impact on society, and it’s about protecting the arts which are notoriously low paid, yet highly valued in a liberal and progressive society.

They don’t need to actively think anything….

Do you think they go to university with a £50k debt around their neck to want to stay in a low paid unskilled job, where they get paid the minimum wage?

If the answer is no, then of course they want to better themselves in the hope of earning a higher salary and by default the loan gets paid off the more they earn.

I’m not a mind reader, but I think it’s highly unlikely that the majority of people, upon taking out the student loans, think to themselves “I will do everything I can to pay back that £50K before I retire”.

Absolutely ridiculous. If he can do a degree he should be working and contributing.

Going to uni when you have a family is an absolute luxury. My mum started a uni degree when she was 68, different circs as I was an adult, mortgage paid off, no financial risks etc. As it happened she didn’t finish it because she had other commitments. But she did it because she was interested in the subject not because she expected to make a career out of it.

Do explain?

To add most graduates don’t take out the loans without the intention of paying them back

Now you’re being downright silly.

Come on, my post is in the context of a poster saying it doesn’t matter they won’t have to pay it back. They are right, but in the context of the response it’s the tax payer that ultimately funds it. If people are happy with that then cool…. Let’s just give out £50k interest free loans to everyone

To add most graduates don’t take out the loans without the intention of paying them back. I’m sure the majority of them would want a better paid job

It still a loss to the tax payer after all

So what? The other poster was saying it’s not on the tax payer and of it is.

Well many graduates don't end up paying back loans e.g. arts graduates does that mean they should not be eligible either?

Yes there’s interest added but that’s neither here nor there in the grand scheme of £50k.

The lenders set a rate of interest that mitigates the amount they end up writing off. It’s a business.

We’re talking about this person, not millions of people, so I think you’re being unnecessarily dramatic. Also, it’s perfectly legal to take out student loans, so there’s no problem.

Well it will cost the tax payer money, precisely because it’s written off. It’s the government that oversee the student finance. Yes there’s interest added but that’s neither here nor there in the grand scheme of £50k.

What do you think would happen if everyone got a minimum wage job and never paid the student debt off? There would be no more finance available and only the rich could afford to go, given most people don’t have a spare £50k kicking about…..

It’ll get written off eventually, paid for by the extortionate rate of interest the private providers of student finance charge. It won’t cost the taxpayer a penny.

Then that’s just like purposely robbing the tax payer then, because whilst it’s free for him, someone has to pay back the £50k or so….

You don't need to support anyone other than you - anyone studying/planning to study needs to figure out how they'll support themselves. 😬

The family finances would improve a lot if he does the degree. Plus, the daughter can work, like millions of other students do and have done in the past.

@pookie999

To be fair, I think similar advice would be given to a non- disabled person deciding to pursue this degree at 58, with no previous experience in counselling or this field, when the finances are tight in the family.

As you said, the family need to consider ‘the whole family’ and you could argue that the dh is being selfish in wanting to do the degree.

I think, at the age of 58, a degree is a luxury rather than a right. And your daughter has to take priority. He's "had his turn" so to speak. And although it's not his fault he got ill, there has to be other things he can do.
Has he every expressed any interest in psychology or coaching before? He'd be better off doing an evening course GCSE or A-Level first, at the cost of a few hundred, before diving into a many thousands of pounds course in a subject he really knows very little about.

If you really can't see a way to afford it, then tough shit really.