To ask how do you/your child pay for uni?

[wishparentingwaseasy]

My eldest is off to a central London university in the autumn and I have just completed the student loan calculator.

We (as its household income not students income or lack of) are entitled to £9,000 for fees and £6,500 for living expenses. The cheapest halls is £5,000. I daren't look how much for non halls accommodation. Leaving £1,500 for everything else including food, books etc. £37.50 based on 40 weeks.

AIBU to wonder if that is doable?

It is certainly unlikely that they will be travelling home.

321jenny321 I am also from a low income family who 'didn't have to think twice'. Except to get the maximum loan and grant you have to have a family income below £25k. That's very different to over £40k. £40k is not just over the threshold. While I'm sure people on £40k don't necessarily have great amounts of disposable income, maybe it would be kinder to think 'could I manage on only half of that?' Think of the many sacrifices you would have to make in order to get by, and there are often hidden costs to not having the larger family income.

For example, our family income was actually quite a bit below £25k so my mum couldn't be a guarantor for my landlord, so I had to pay 3 months rent up front. With books and equipment at the start of term I had nothing left until next term. I would go shopping with £3-5 for the week regularly. My sister had to pay 6 months at a go, which she borrowed from me as loans come in termly and didn't cover it, until I had a better paying job and could be her guarantor.

OP - Both of us had jobs. I was in London and found it more cost effective to not have to travel to work in term time as I had a full on course and could only do a few hours at a time, so just did loads in the holidays. I also worked a year before going, a lot of my friends saved up to travel, but I saved for university. I had a lot more energy then and regularly had 3 jobs on the go. My sister had a term time job in a bar, but found it hard working until 3am and balancing that with her course. The hardest thing in London is the rent and travel is expensive, but there are also all the free attractions so you can spend less on going out. I didn't live in halls - I had small rooms in flat shares, and they weren't very nice, but it didn't bother me too much then and lots of friends were also living in similar places, they just had more spending money.

I took a year out before Uni and worked my arse off to save up then I worked part time when I was at Uni. I also didn't go to halls - I shared a student flat and it was significantly cheaper.

I get full student loan and grant and have done since first year due to pretty much non existent parent income. Have learned to budget very well and worked part time until DD came along unexpectedly.

Loan, huge amount of help from parents, PT jobs (not atm though), grants, scholarship in 1st year....

Ok i do a uni course as a mature student that gave me a grant and paid tuition fees, local charity fund gave x amount for books, i worked every summer and easter weeks in my previous job and saved that money to get me through year. Hubby worked in a cheese factory during the summer... As a result left with no student loans and no debt. Its doable but you have to work hard. I couldnt work during uni term time as being dyslexic i needed to concentrate on studying.

Ahboll another one who licked envelopes.....so boring but needs must....also stuffing the envelopes. I hope everyone who got their tourist leaflet appreciated my hard work... Heart breaking to see them returned as addressee unknown.... Took two of us 2 weeks to do that very summer....

We couldn't afford to sub uni, so ds1 got a full time job to fit in with uni and lived at home.
He paid for it all himself and as a result no student debt.
he then carried on with same job but added two more and bought his first house for cash at aged 23.
can you tell I'm a proud mum.

I was at Uni in London years ago so before fees and had a long and full on course but there were jobs and I waitressed part time
I got decent pay (with tips) for one long shift a week and it covered a lot of the expenses
I think PT work is the only way

Oh and 321jenny I'm sure it must be really annoying to see those kids who've grown up teetering on the poverty line being given a little help to break that cycle.

Here's the difference between myself and my friends who don't get full loan. If they run out of money because they spent too much on a night out, their parents are able to chuck some money their way (and do so, regularly). If i run out of money due to an unexpected bill, my parents have absolutely nothing to help me out with. I mean nothing.

Our dd is in her first year in halls. We have paid the short fall in rent and she's used her own savings from a gap year to live on, she's also topped this up by working in the holidays. So far she has been unable to get a part time job at uni but is still looking.
It's really tough but thankfully she's very sensible with her money probably because she's worked hard for it and she's doing an accounting degree!

Our dd is in her first year in halls. We have paid the short fall in rent and she's used her own savings from a gap year to live on, she's also topped this up by working in the holidays. So far she has been unable to get a part time job at uni but is still looking.
It's really tough but thankfully she's very sensible with her money probably because she's worked hard for it and she's doing an accounting degree!

We're in Scotland so no tuition fees. We're in the Central belt so all 3 at Uni live at home and drive daily. DD gets a bursary for her particular course and travel expenses while on placement. The other two get approx £4700 a year each in student loans and also work part time. They all get an allowance of £500 per month as well (which my dad left in his will). We pay for car insurances/tax/upkeep of cars as well as all food/heating/holidays etc.

If they study in London can they not stay in halls?
I'm dreading it with dd as I know she'll want to go to London, have 8 years to save but don't think will get anywhere near it.
Has anybody costed the full 3 years expenses? I'd love to know even though realise it will be double in 8 years.

I'd really advise against taking out maximum loans unless you absolutely have to. I did a four year course, 2000-2004, had a loan of approx £3000 a year, parents covered fees (£1000/year). I also worked around my course and during holidays.

Come the end of my course, I did an MA. Fully funded by a scholarship. By the time I came to paying my loan back (which I fully believe I should, I borrowed the money after all), in 2005, it was somewhere around the £17,000 mark. Interest rates were around 6% for a lot of the period I'd had the loan.

So, roll on ten years. I worked for six and have been on mat leave/at home with young children for the remaining four. Despite paying down a lot of the loan, it's now back up to around £8000. I dread to think how many times over I've repaid that £12,000. As I said, I think I should have to pay as I borrowed. However, loans based on what my parents earned and signed for by them even though I was an adult - random system really!

It's somewhat ironic that I'm now saving for my own children's university fees, as well as still paying back my own.

What's disgraceful is that a student on zero income has to pay for his/her own prescriptions (in England.) If that person went on the dole they would get their rent paid, some money for food and bills and free prescriptions.

Stayed at home. Parents couldn't financially contribute so I used loans to pay fees and worked pretty much every weekend and couple of nights a week while at uni and ft when I wasnt.

I had student loan and grant, and worked full time during the summer holidays, and babysittiled during term time.

Babysitting was great. I did it 2-3 nights a week, and studied while the children slept. I also loved the perk of free food.

Ds is a student in London. Halls are better value than private rental because bills are included, you don't have to commit to a year, they are more central so you can walk to uni and save on transport costs. Also there are no agency fees. Private rental for students in London is pretty grim really.

How have you worked that out out OP. according to student Finance she would be entitled to £8009 for living expenses loan and then any grants from the governement and her university she is entitled to.My DS gets £3.5k a year from his uni

Also they finish for the summer in Midmay and don't go back until the end of sept or beginning of October

Here's the difference between myself and my friends who don't get full loan. If they run out of money because they spent too much on a night out, their parents are able to chuck some money their way (and do so, regularly). If i run out of money due to an unexpected bill, my parents have absolutely nothing to help me out with. I mean nothing.

The difference is there is no way I can afford the extra £5k a year my DD needs to make her income equal to a low income student. I have no issue with low income students getting what they do, but it is very unfair my DD will not have that kind of money at her disposal.

The low income students will be much better off than my DD, even with our help and that isn't fair.

DS is also going off to Uni in Sept (results permitting). He is due to do a 5 year Engineering course so I very much doubt he will have time to get a part time job. DH earns just over the threshold so DS gets the min student loan which will just about cover his accomodation costs. The rest will need to be funded by us and/or DSs limited savings. I am sticking my head in the sand a little and hoping that our bills at home will go down when DS goes away (electricity/water/food) plus not having to pay for his school transport and music lessons will give us some leeway. Failing that, we may have to increase the mortgage to fund him.
I cannot go out to work as I care for my disabled DD so it will be tough and I doubt we'll be getting a holiday for a few years and will have to cut back in other ways. I'm so glad we are only going to be funding one child.

And to the poster who mentioned funding an 'independent' adult, this is a conversation DH & I have had as our DD (who has multiple disabilities and will never work) became an independent adult in the eyes of the state when she turned 16 even though she was still in FT education until she was 19. So why does her brother, who is an adult by law, need to be financially dependent on his parents until at least age 23 ?

While I'm sure people on £40k don't necessarily have great amounts of disposable income, maybe it would be kinder to think 'could I manage on only half of that?'

But why should my DD have to manage on half of what you do, just because both me and her father work?

I managed raising a family on £15k for many years and to be honest I am not much better off when you take into account the loss of tax credits/extra help with uni costs I need to fund.

Have a look at this thread in Higher Education

To be honest the cost is the reason many students avoid applying to London Universities.

My eldest two both did/are doing degrees that allow absolutely no time for outside work.
Both took a gap year - worked and saved every penny.
We gave/give them about 60-80 £ per week for food,travel depending on whether they need to travel home/work experience etc
DH and I both work extra hours to enable this.