Cost of uni for parents

[TeenLifeMum]

I’ve read multiple threads on here about the cost of uni and parents supplementing about £800 per month. Is this your experience?

my question is really aimed at those who earn too much to qualify for anything above the minimum loan but aren’t crazy rich.

For context, I wonder if I need to plan for remortgaging or getting a loan to support all 3dc through. One will have one cross over year but the other two are twins so will be the same time. I don’t have a spare £2,400 per month available. Hoping for some real life experiences. (I do expect dc to have a pt job but wouldn’t expect lots of hours).

Watching this thread for similar reasons. I earn just about the amount which means DC will get the minimum loan. Have other children, and DC's father isn't in a position to contribute as he has become severely ill.
I've read on here that many parents pay for accommodation and the DC get part-time jobs to pay for costs. That will just about be doable for us, but if DC gets into Oxbridge, they don't like the students working whilst studying because it's so full-on.
It's a worry isn't it.

I have similar concerns. We just don't have any spare money at the end of the month. I have started to look at degree apprenticeships as an option, and also have spoken to my kids about the fact that they may have to consider a local university and commute. Luckily we have several where that might be an option but it's not fair at all.

We have 2 at uni and only qualify for the minimum loan. We supplement to the amount the full loan would be - it's about £100 p/w and both work hard in their holidays to give themselves a buffer as they go back. We had an inheritance which has helped a lot with the costs.

My DD is a long time away from university even being a consideration, but we have been saving for her since birth. If she goes to university, it should be enough to top her up and anything left is hers towards a house deposit, further education etc.

How old are the DC now?
We certainly couldn't afford £2,400 per month either, but we have been saving since DC's birth specifically for this.

Different cities will have different costs-of-living but I would expect the minimum living expenses to be around £13,227pa (the maximum student loan is £10,227pa and university scholarships and bursaries designed to enable a student not to need a job so they can focus on study are typically £3,000pa)

So if your child only gets the minimum £4,767 loan and doesn't have a part time job you would need to top up by £705 per month - obviously you could reduce this if they get a job but I wouldn't do that on a pound-for-pound basis: they should get some personal benefit for their extra effort rather than it just reducing your own outgoings

We had been saving as well but then our circumstances changed and we had to use that money. (Husband had a breakdown). Our saving pot is currently zero.

Honestly it's crippling. We didn't plan and it's been a massive struggle. Our stupid fault obvs but there you go.

Our DD gets minimum loan and we have paid accommodation costs (last year £7500 in halls) and have had to top up extra. She has an anxiety disorder and ADHD so struggles to work and study but has worked during the summer. She has moved into a student house now and costs are not much lower and they have to take a 12 month contract so we have been paying for this whilst she was at home over the summer.

Your average, reasonably well off parents on MN seems to pay their DC's accommodation costs and then let them use the minimum maintenance loan for day to day living.

We're paying just over £7000 for DD's accommodation. She is in a more expensive place (but not London, which would be even more eye watering). So that's roughly the £800 a month, if you only consider it to cover term time, with a view that the DC would live at home and work during the summer holiday.

However, if you can't afford it, then you can't afford it. Lots of parents also help "in kind" e.g. by paying for big food shops. I would expect DC to be working as well to supplement and it may be the balance between what parents can afford and what is needed means they have to work more hours than they might want to.

The other option is that some DC take a gap year and use that time to work and save. I think we will see this happening more and more.

DD2 uni friends most worked p/t in A-levels and then summer jobs - and often work P/T in term time - few took year out to work and save.

We saved in child trust fund - and extra saving fund we still have - and IL saved - so DD1 got ten grand - next child has slightly less due to interest changes and being gifted less as baby- moot point in end as ended up in wales were student finances are much better.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loan-parental-contribution-tool/guide/

Help you work out how much they'd expect as parental contribution.

There are a few things that you can do to help a bit. One is to encourage them to look at unis in less expensive places - London being the obvious one to avoid... The other is to start saving now rather than waiting for it to hit you - that also has the advantage that you aren't hit by the loss of spare income when they do go. And instill a work ethic in them as quickly as possible - learning how to juggle schoolwork around a job will stand them in good stead when they do get to uni. (even if its something informal like babysitting/car washing/sports or music coaching until they're old enough to get a job) And teach them to budget early eg by shopping and cooking a meal a week/clothing allowance etc.

A gap year to work and save for the first year plus holiday work would help in the Oxbridge situation. Having said that Oxbridge are often cheaper on the accommodation costs than most other Southern unis.

Sounds like we're in a similar position financially - our household income is fractionally over the threshold for anything other the minimum loan. We are slightly lucky I suppose in that we realised a few years ago, and so didn't move from our slightly too small house as we'd hoped to. We will still definitely notice the loss of a few hundred pounds each month to make DC1's income match the maximum loan.

DC1 knows the situation and that she'll need to work either in the holidays or term term for anything beyond the equivalent of the maximum loan. We've also strongly discouraged studying in London, which is really sad as UCL is one of the best places for her subject. And on university open days she's been careful only to look at the cheapest options.

We've two children at Uni and get minimum loan. We top them up by £500 a month each, which takes them to just slightly over the max loan amount.

Despite both being at Southern Unis, their accommodation costs have been fairly reasonable - about £6,500 per year. They manage fine on this amount. Some cities (outside of London) do have eyewatering accommodation costs - it's worth factoring that in when making uni choices.

Obviously, we've known that we needed to top up Uni costs since before they were born, so we planned for that and put some money aside. It was always a consideration in big decisions we made such as mortgage size, holiday costs, car costs etc - we've always prioritised their education.

My first is going this year. She will get just over the minimum loan. She has saved 4k in the last year and will use some of this and we and her GPs will prob send 150 a month each. I think she’ll have around 100 a week. It’s next year that worries me!

She is hoping to work while at uni.

It's flipping expensive. We pay for their accommodation (£1300 pm for 2...first one already finished) and they pay for everything else, but we're struggling month on month and it's not easy. We haven't asked our two to get jobs and help out, although both absolutely would do and both also are pretty frugal, so have money left over.

We have topped up the minimum maintenance loan to cover accomodation and then transfer £100 a week during term time. This seems to be more than enough to cover food and travel with a little left for a coffee and some social events. Dc also does some casual work in holidays. Unfortunately we do not have any universities within easy commuting distance so that was never an option.

Its wrong.

We saved but then life happened - redundancy, boiler broke etc but also, we want to live. We do have a family holiday most years. I can’t imagine not doing that and missing out on the family times together. I guess I need to remember it’s “only” 3-4 years so will be like nursery years again. We have savings but I think uni will eat all of that.

Our first is about to go. The accommodation alone is £8.5k per academic year. We have another three children going in the next few years, so we always knew it would be expensive. We made some investments when they were born that are maturing now and will cover the majority of their costs, but even so we have been surprised by how much we need to pay.

we have two at Uni. I give dd £320 a month and dh gives ds £300 a month. Dd is doing a course where it will be hard for her to work alongside studying. ds has not been able to get a job.
There are a lot of other costs to think about too. DD's accommodation for this coming term has had to be paid for before her student loan is paid so we have had to lend her that and is over £700. cost also involved in taking them both back to unis 3 hours in different directions etc.It does seem to be never ending costs but no where near £800 a month each.

Same. Definitely wish we'd have looked in to it properly a good few years beforehand so that we could plan better.

We pay £1100 a month to cover rent and spending money
In Scotland so no tuition fees
Also pay a few things we have always have eg phone
I was totally skint at Uni and want more than that for mine

The expectation is if the household income meets the threshold that the parent(s) make up the difference to maximum loan. That's around £5k to find each year. The problem is made worse as the maximum loan is usually eaten up by accommodation costs. In DS case he is then already in the negative.

You need your DC to work in the summer before they go to university and then p/t while at university or as DS does every holiday (but not in term time). We top up food and phone.

Yes, we topped up the loan to cover the accommodation, and also gave £500/mth. DD also worked in the holidays, but not during term time.

Other expense, if they live a long way away, are the trips back and forth, needing to stay overnight, and the initial set up of "stuff". Graduation just cost us a fortune too, hotels, dinners, etc....

DD getting the minimum loan and has some money that my Mum gave her when she turned 18. We will be paying her accommodation, which is catered so she won't need much more. We pay for her phone and will get her a travel .pass if she needs one.
She is keen to get a job but due to a MH issue it will be difficult because most of the normal hospitality type jobs will be beyond her.
Luckily we can afford it, she was at Private school so we are actually paying less now