to think my son should go to College near home to save money?

[OrangeStar]

I know in the old days teenagers and young adults often went away from home area to study, and it was great for fostering independence and freedom.

However, these days, with education courses (especially degrees) costing so much money, and the very limited grants and high cost of housing, I can't see how my son would afford to live away from home in terms of rent in addition to all the other costs!

Wondered how other people saw this, or managed this? I'd like for my son to have the choice to move to study away from home if he wanted, but I can't practically see how he (or I) could afford it.

So much of it depends on your income as to how much support he'll get. I know many people who took a year out purely to work to save for university and were able to save a lot of money. I was lucky enough to be in a position where I worked during my A levels and did full time hours in the holidays and saved so I didn't need support from my parents. I worked through the 4 years of my degree too, usually 10-20 hours per week so it wasn't easy.

I was desperate to move away and would have moved heaven and earth to do it so it depends whether he wants to put the hours in and pay for it or not.

He needs to go to the University that has the best course for him, the drop out rate is high, so being on the right course which leads to a good qualification with good teaching and support is key. So if it is 15 miles or 150 miles it makes little difference.

drinkmilkandkickass
Yes to 'the north' not being a cheap option! In the city DC is studying in there is a flat accommodation rate in halls of £7000

£7000 a year for student accommodation sounds a lot. Even for London! £600 a WEEK? Nah surely not.

It's not 600 a week is it...it's £600 a month, and that's pretty standard for good quality halls if you have a large en suite room.

Yeah £7000 a year for student accommodation sounds a lot. Even for London! £600 a WEEK? Nah surely not

It is true though. Just looked and all colleges at Durham charge £7,100 per annum (despite there probably being wildly varying standards across them). Greedy fuckers. And then they seem surprised that there is a lack of state school applicants. I wonder why that could be.... I bet they don't even let students stay there during holidays because they probably rent the rooms out for conferences.

But as I said before, Durham is really not representative of the cost of accommodation anywhere else outside London.

Depends what your DS is wanting to study. These days going to UNI is pretty much a lifestyle choice for a lot of teens. They don't know what they want to do so like the idea of killing a bit of time continuing in education, and living the uni life, which can be good fun if you have parents supporting you financially through it. If it's a 'proper' course which is going to get them good job prospects and qualifications at the end of it, then it's a good idea. If it's one of those pointless ones like 'events organiser' or some other vaguely pointless subject, then I'd encourage him to do an apprenticeship or go to college nearer home. I work with so many young people who have been to uni who are working alongside me in jobs they could have done by just leaving school with their GCSEs instead of getting into lots of student debt, and taking a lot of mum and dads money in the process.

Both mine managed college and being independent and living at home the uni experience is overrated your child doesn't need to live in a grotty house share get plastered every weekend to get an education

sorry to have completely derailed the thread! But yes £7000 flat rate for a 40 week (I think?) let do not acccessible during most vacs. And yes, not terribly great quality in most halls. The worst part however is that the fixed price then acts as a benchmark for accommodation so private landlords set their prices accordingly so students end up paying phenomenal amounts to live in grotty private accommodation too. And of course, that has a roll on affect to the city as a whole which is hugely unaffordable for everyone. I appreciate it's a wholey unique situation but it wasn't something we were aware of when our DC applied. We couldn't have afforded it if we'd had two at uni at the time. As it's such a well regarded university it's awful that it blocks low income students in such a way and I really think it should get more stick for it. It is elitist and wrong and the university should be pulled up on it.

YANBU. I agree with MrsJayy.

As it's such a well regarded university it's awful that it blocks low income students in such a way and I really think it should get more stick for it. It is elitist and wrong and the university should be pulled up on it

Totally agree. I saw on a student forum that there had been protests about it from the students, as the cost had gone up from £5,800 a few years ago to £7,100 with no explanation of the increase. The only slight positive is that rents are much much cheaper in second and third years as the students no longer live in college. It's a very good university, but they are closing themselves off to poorer students in a way that even Oxbridge does not do (although it possibly does it in other ways).

Both mine managed college and being independent and living at home the uni experience is overrated your child doesn't need to live in a grotty house share get plastered every weekend to get an education

Depends I guess. It was a lot more than that for me, and I could see that the students on my course who were living at home really did not have the same experience. I guess if you don't know it, you won't miss it though.

'Both mine managed college and being independent and living at home the uni experience is overrated your child doesn't need to live in a grotty house share get plastered every weekend to get an education'

But this depends on where you live, what courses the local uni offers (if there is one), and what you want to study. Not all students who live away from home get wasted every weekend, and my years in shared houses were the happiest of my life.

I couldn't have done the degree I wanted from home, the nearest university offering it was about 1.5-2 hours away. I didn't want another career and 13 years after graduating I am still in the job the degree lead to.

If the local university does the course wanted and the person wants to stay at home then great- but it wouldn't work for everyone.

My DS will be taking a gap year and working to save money for uni

Unis often have some sort of cost of living calculator on their websites. Two examples - one north, one south:

Manchester uni has a guide to approximate costs www.manchester.ac.uk/study/experience/student-life/living-costs/

Southampton www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/budgeting-advice.page

Oh yeah £7000 is £600 a month, not a week. What a twit I am haha.

Sorry.

Sounds more realistic. Most decent halls are between £5700 and £6700, so that isn't too extreme.

It's common where I'm from for young adults to do the first year or two at a local college then transfer to uni. It does take coordination and sometimes approval for certain courses to be recognized.
Is this what your thinking of?

When my daughter went to university I was on a very limited income and so she received the full maintenance loan as well as a bursery from the university (paid in 2 installments). She did get herself a part time job and this allowed her to manage throughout the year

I went to Keele, a good university. You can get a room term time only for less than £3000 a year here if you are willing to be basic!

www.keele.ac.uk/studyatkeele/accommodation/newstudents/feesroomtypes/