AIBU to wonder why the UK doesn't have a culture of saving for kids' University?

[windygallows]

I'm originally from North America where 'saving for College/University' is a big part of the culture, in fact it's quite normal for parents to take a college fund out just after baby is born. And understandably - University is really expensive in the US eg (tuition + living expenses of $30,000 pa).

I've had both my children in the UK (have lived here for 20 years) and do my best to put a bit of money into a college fund every month, even if its a stretch. When I mentioned this to a few friends they looked at me with amusement and asked 'why?' I've casually asked around if others are saving for college - some have put money aside but haven't specifically said it's for higher education. I haven't pried, just asked a few people so don't have a full picture.

However I'm finding it surprising that this isn't more of a concern for parents. In the UK University isn't 'free' anymore (eg. through grants), tuition is very pricey now, grants are rarely available, and student loans are shrinking. But it just seems like this hasn't been absorbed by many parents. Or maybe it has and I just don't know!

Before flaming me - I'm aware not everyone can afford to put money/savings away and I'm also aware that not everyone can or wants to go to University, so no need to debate that. I'm just questioning the seeming obliviousness to the dramatic change in the cost of University here.

AIBU?

So are these the parents of 4 year olds you are talking about? And these scholarships, funded by alumni often?, you expect how much exactly from people over a four year period? There wasnt much point having a scholarship to cover fees after all, if students didnt have to pay fees
Tbh a lot of usa community college degrees seem to be entirely run to rip off students. We seem to be heading that way. Better to encourage your kids to get a trade.
Perhaps also there is a culture difference. People might not talk about their savings for their kids. Perhaps it is more culturally acceptable in the usa?

We haven't started a uni fund for our 4.5 yo twins because by the time they start school in September we will have spent £100k on childcare in the last 4 years!! So should be able to catch up now that our bill will drop by a huge amount

It is only really recently since the current government came to power that uni has got very expensive but the fees you only pay back once you graduate so not an upfront cost. It's still not the cost of US university.
My daughter two and we aren't saving for her uni but I know my parents were putting something in a. Saving account for her so she can have that when she is 18. Maybe when we aren't paying £500 a month in childcare we can put something aside for her.

I think others have said quite neatly what I would have anyway... But I would add, I think it is naive to assume that degrees will continue to have as much value in the future anyway.

It's no longer the case that a degree equals a decent job and a good income and a stable career. Yes, by all means I'd like to put money away for my daughter's future, but I wouldn't label it as a university fund.

IF the student loan culture in this country did change (which I can't see happening, but IF it did) and it meant even higher tuition fees then unless she wanted to be a cardiologist or rocket scientist or whatever I'd rather her just not go. DH and I both have degrees and career wise it hasn't helped either of us.

Plus... At the minute, I'd love to be stashing her child benefit away for her future, but I need it to buy things now. Like food. So there's that too...

www.dailyworth.com/posts/2696-why-you-re-saving-for-college-all-wrong

Apparently only half of parents in the states save for college anyway. Quite interesting reading why the other half dont

Actually thinking about it i never tell anyone in rl that my kids have savings accounts in their names. The kids dont even know. Its quite likely at least some of your friends are the same when you talk about it.

I think it will change (in terms of how many do) over time. When my dc were small, there weren't any fees, and even when they were first introduced they were relatively small, so there isn't the culture / expectation.
There is also the point about other costs being relatively high (housing particularly, but also childcare), so not many people have the kind of disposable income to save even if they thought it would be a good idea.

Other people do what they can to pay off their mortgage early, so they have lots more disposable income to help their dc in their University years, rather than having a 'University savings fund'. Or possibly save / invest elsewhere.
Over half the population don't go to university anyway, so it's not a foregone conclusion its something that will be needed.

It is a 'graduate tax' that you might never pay back. If I had £30K spare to give my dc, my advice would be to use it as a deposit on a flat/house rather than pay of student loans with it - a mortgage company isn't going to let you off payments when you are not earning or earning a smaller amount, but the student loan terms will. You'd be daft to put that kind of savings to your student debt.

When I were a lass I was expected to go to uni. My fees were paid. We could get very small loans you'd have to earn decent amount to pay back. Those loans shouldn't impact on you buying property once you got your brilliant job...

Except I was the last year that happened too. Blair came in and for all his promises he almost instantly turned over grants. The Economy also boomed so even those who came out of university couldn't quite afford those houses once they reconciled debt.

My generation are still paying for that. Those of us lucky to be on the housing ladder with kids generally jaunt don't have the money to afford a college fund. I don't want my kids to go to uni now unless they want a profession that requires a degree, like medicine or law etc.

I blame Blair for all this. I never got the Clegg hate, he was a stooge. If Blair hadn't started it the Torys would never have managed to get this far,

There's another thing too, if you send your children to private school.

University is generally cheaper than private school fees. So you just factor 'education costs' in for x+3 years, rather than x.

Agree with pp that many people probably do save for their children, even though they do not talk about it (talking about money still not really the done thing) and may not even think of it as the university fund.

I come from Scandinavia where university students are thought of as far more grown-up than they are in the UK, and loans + summer job will cover all costs. The advantage from the student's pov is freedom: parents who don't pay also don't have a say in what you choose to study.

As a uni teacher here in the UK I see far too many students who have been pushed into a degree programme which they have no interest in (and sometimes only moderate aptitude for) because it's what the parents think of as a good degree.

When I went to university in 1977 only a small proportion of people went to university and there were less universities. No one paid fees and grants , non repayable, were enough to live on.

So far as a "graduate tax" apart from 3 months maternity leave I've worked full time for 35 years , paying higher rate tax for at least 25 of them so I reckon I've more than paid any graduate levy.

When my son went there were no fees payable in Scotland although we had a repeat year to pay for. I can't remember how the other funding worked. He got a very small student loan, not enough to live on but as we'd paid school fees from age 4 to 18 it was just a continuation of that.

My mum asked me before DD was 2 whether I was saving for her higher education. I've not always been able to do so but I have known that I should and it's part of not having a child you can't afford, to me. I am surprised so few do.
12 years from qualifying, I am still paying off my student loans, and that's with mum having been in a position to help me with fees and costs.

"What happens if you put all this money into a special college trust and then your children decide not to go?"
For most Americans, not going to college/university really isn't seen as an option.
Employers are looking for a degree, but, unless you're going into a profession that requires specific qualifications, it doesn't really matter to most of them what that degree is in. Your much maligned Media Studies degree could mean the difference between whether or not you work at McDonald's for the rest of your life.

I went to uni in 1998 and paid my own costs from a student loans, small jobs, £2400 inheritance and towards the end a bank loan. Then I got a job and paid the loans off. My parents didnt have to pay fees due to their low income.

I am paying into a child trust fund, which in my mind is to fund whatever my children do aged 18 yrs+ but I feel that this is a gift rather than expected. I never have this conversation with other parents.

I guessed if there are fees for me to pay then they will be means tested, and so we will afford them if we have the means at the time?

I don't specifically have savings for DS (age 1) at the moment for university, although I know my parents have an account for him.

Assuming the system is similar in 17 years (unlikely I know) my plan would be for him to get the maximum student loan he could to cover fees and then I'd give him an allowance, which along with, hopefully, money from a summer job, he could cover his living costs.
This is what my parents did for me.

The money they'd saved for me went towards a house deposit. I'm still paying student loan, and yes it'd be nice to not have it and get some extra salary each month, but it doesn't really impact much on my life as I don't have to pay when I'm not earning. Saving that money for a deposit would have been much harder and my mortgage still needs to be paid no matter what.

US perspective here. DS is 14 now and will be at University (Probably in the States but who knows) in 5 years and we've saved for this since before he was conceived. I inherited when my mother died so we paid off our then house and put the rest away for ds University. Rough estimate is $50 thousand dollars per Year (please God not more) but I'm hoping from some scholarships. We have a bit over $100K saved.

It's very much a trend here that graduates are paying off their huge student loans for so long that they can't afford a house or an education for their own children. Of course ds will have to work Summer's to help out for living expenses but I just don't want to saddle him with such debt so early.

I should have made that clearer, I expect his university tuition to equal
50K a year - might be a bit less or more. Most students go to uni here 5 years as well. So we are looking at potentially 150K for university for him. We have the money in a mutual fund in Our names. That way if he decides not to go (as a pp said not really an option here) or decides to 'find himself' he's not doing so on our money.

Because it was free until fairly recently. There hasn't been time for a culture of saving for uni to even start.
Also the government provide low interest loans that have no impact on future loan agreements such as mortgages so it can make sense to use those. I save for my kids but it's not for anything in particular. It may be for education, or a house deposit or a car

I live in the Channel Islands. Currently the states calculate how much the parents can pay towards it, then awards a grant to make up the shortfall. I left education a decade ago aged 15, DH left at 15 too. We couldn't afford to send our kids to university by ourselves, and frankly if they expected it of us they would obviously be too thick to attend as we're quite blatantly poor.

Yes as others have said, for me edication was free in the days of full grants although I remember my father making a small termly contribution.

I do save for the children and they know it's for when they are 18. I put some of their Christmas and birthday money in there and top it up occasionally.

As my dc have sn, I have always seen it as money that will help them set up home.

I have two girls and chances are they won't pay back anywhere near their education costs. I have save some for living expenses however. And we will be better off if we are mortgage free etc. Savings rates are so low.

I'm saving £60 per month for dd and ds. But it's not for college. I want them to use it as/towards a deposit on their first house. I don't see having a loan to pay back as a major issue. But being able to buy a house would be a bigger stretch without my help.

This thread sadly shows how many people in this country are mired in debt.

For DH and I it's been incredibly important that the DC will not start their working life burdened with debt.
Monies are already in the bank to ensure they will start their working life debt free.

When they graduate, we (DH and I) will pay off their loans, but they don't know this, as I want them to learn to budget and live within their means.

This is how we will play it too. The kids won't be told they don't have to worry about money, they will be strongly encouraged to be responsible.

Some universities offer scholarships to students getting high grades, eg Kent gives £1000 per annum if you get AAAs & I think this can be doubled. Students whose families have low incomes can also receive larger loans.

In the US colleges give some legacy places, these are not available here as there are only 2 or 3 private universities, these give alumni incentive to donate to scholarship funds. My Dh has given substantial sums to his old Oxbridge college but our dc did not apply there as their AS grades weren't high enough. In the US they would probably have been offered a place regardless.