If you are fully supporting DC through uni - how much is is it really costing?

We saved from pregnancy onwards. I was so angry when tuition was tripled overnight and then when maintenance grants were scrapped. It made it very difficult to fund their UG degrees.

It is the norm for the annual cost of going to uni in UK though, unless you are able to stay at home. Fees + accommodation + subsistence is around that. The discussion is about how that is funded.

um because you don’t have to live with your parents which, dare I say, affords you certain “freedoms” that you might appreciate as a young person.

Current loans are designed so that the majority will pay them off. Many paying much more than they took out, especially mid-earners like teachers or social workers taking a full loan.
We give a weekly amount (on top of accommodation, circa 10k) nowhere near 3 figures and only during weeks DC isn't at home.

27k a year is only a few k under my entire annual salary. This really isn't the norm over here unless you're very well-off or in the top % of earners, of which there seem to be many on here.

I'm agog at the UK costs. My dd's tuition in Belgium was 850 euros for UG and 1000 for Masters. Rent and bills roughly 600 euros per month - though she could have lived at home - and I paid her phone. She had a pt job to cover the rest and has graduated with no debt at all! I did sub her a bit for spends and deliveroo but 27k per year - OMG.

Many Unis in the UK have a student housing crisis. Student flats within walking distance were £1250/mo for 1 bedroom in a flat share for one of my DC. So they got a private flat share a 45min commute away but £1k/mo cheaper.

I think it’s silly not to take out the loan. You’d save more money just paying their loan repayments for them afterwards.

What's the point in a student flat if you still have to commute to uni?

My eldest has just graduated, and we used to give him £300 per month (term time) for living expenses (food / bills / spending money). He didn’t go out drinking much at all, but we used to occasionally subsidise trips with his club, and travel back home, and I would buy him clothes / shoes if needed (as I used to before). He lived frugally at uni (shopped in Lidl), and told me he used to spend maybe £30 on food each week (self-catering). He worked each summer, and had a part-time job in year 3 - which funded holidays with friends and ‘luxury’ items. I think living frugally and budgeting is a really important part of the student experience!

@LathkillDale Stockport. 😁

Dove Dale was always my favourite; but it seems overcrowded now, so have to go for Lathkill Dale; but I also like Beresford Dale!

I’m guessing you went to school in Sheffield?

Around that. The £800/mo included sports clubs, lab fees, transport (their student flat was a commute away), dentist/eyes, prescriptions, etc

The person I am thinking of is doing a vocational course, and I have absolutely no doubt, they will be able to get a job after graduation!

Why not at least work in the summer though? For most courses there is 3 months of summer holiday. We provide DD with a roof over her head and food and toiletries (and lifts) over the summer; she works to cover her social life and a holiday with friends. No impact on her studies and she appreciates the money she has worked all the more. Plus future employers will appreciate the work experience.

I imagine there are a lot (possibly majority) of students with some level of parental (or grandparent) financial support. If you look at the loan figures, even the maximum loan wont cover rent and living expenses in a lot of areas.

But with the longer repayment term now, most students WILL pay it off. And it's definitely not free money! Although interest rate being set at RPI does make it a cheap loan compared with others.

Why would you pay for everything? Get a loan, they will never pay it back then it gets written off. You are literally spending money that they could get for free. Save your money to give them for a property instead.

I only do term time. But one of mine no longer really has holidays so it adds up tbh…..

@LathkillDale i did my GCSE Geography coursework on Lathkilldale in 1994 😊 haven't seen that word in a long time!

Day schools near us (North) are usually around £20-25K per year now)

A day school! I don’t know how much the fees are now, because I don’t ask.

As for teaching DC the value of money, I don’t consider making DC take out student loans and working through university is the best way to do it. Why saddle them with loans at all, if you don’t have to?

We couldn’t afford to support DC fully at university, but we paid £6,000 a year for their accommodation and let them live rent free at home in the holidays. We preferred them to get a first than a 2:2, because they had to work part time. DD2’s health wasn’t up to work part time anyway.

DD has actually taken the tuition loans and on top of that it costs us around £15k per year
She was at private until 6th form so we were paying that anyway and for the 3 years before Uni (Gap Year) we put away the cost of school fees for Uni so its not too painful
It will be similar for DS, although i think he will go to a local Uni so costs will be lower if he is living at home

We live in the same place 😁

He will only get minimum loan but as you say, doesn't mean we have loads of money!

It feels a shame doesn't it, I feel like they get so much out of moving away to uni but it seems so unaffordable

I know you were asking another poster, but we give DD around £400/month living expenses while she's at uni, but less (or she works) during the holidays. When she's at home im buying food/toiletries etc so she doesnt need to cover that.
Bear in mind university terms are a lot shorter than school. Oxbridge I think has 3 x 8 week terms.
Start in mid-late september. My own DD finished her 2nd year in mid May, although she stayed in the house until June. In a private house obviously rent is due for all 12 months whether they are there or not , first year generally students are in halls which have a shorter contract, iirc ours was 41 weeks.