To ask what you spend on uni costs for your DC

[yoursworried]

Thinking ahead a bit but am starting to think about more targeted savings. I have 2 DC and this post is only the assumption they want and need to go to uni which they might not.
If you have DC at uni, what costs do you cover for them and what do you expect them to pay themselves? I presume most don't pay the tuition fees : do you pay living costs including rent and spending money? Do you buy their clothes and food? Do you expect them to have a part time job or work during the holidays?
My mum was unable to support me financially at all through uni so I maxed out all maintenance loans etc. I am still paying back a fairly hefty loan because the last 11 years since graduation I have been low-ish pay/maternity leave/short period of no work. Now I earn a decent salary quite a bit goes to student loan company monthly which I find a bit psychologically challenging as it'll probably go on for the rest of my working life.
As such, I'd like to help my kids in the future should they go to uni or similar and wondered how other mumsnetters fund their kids.
My kids are early primary so I'm thinking way ahead (possibly unreasonable) but I would like to start saving for these costs now. If they don't go to uni, well they can have it for something else!

During my undergrad my dad gave me sporadic hand outs not regular .sometimes 20.00 or 40.00 . Bearing in mind this was some 15 years ago . I was expected to save for uni and had a few thousand saved from a part time job before I started uni . I then had a part time job during my first year at uni . I also had a student loan . During my first year I didn’t need any money from my family , though they bought me a fridge .In my second year I stopped the part time job at my parents request, to help me do better at uni . I then took the hand outs . It wasn’t a lot . When things got bad my dad would send me a few hundred to balance the books . I reckon they must’ve given me a few thousand in my second and third year .

In the summer of my second year I had a summer job only which helped .

I finished degree and started professional exams and qualified in a profession

I then did a masters straight after pretty much ( worked in a professional job for about 6 months and saved )

When I did my MSc it cost about 25k all in . For the year . I funded this through a career development loan and working part time and again through savings accumulated in the job before I started the MSc . It was hard work as I was working weekends and doing a full time MSc . I took no financial help from my family . I left the MSc with 8 grand debt with the bank and cleared it within a year or so. Barely paid any interest as they give you a grace period before they start charging interest .

Think I only managed the MSc without help as I already had a well paid profession. I know others struggled .

Hope this helps you get a rough idea .

Both times I was living in very expensive cities .

Funding and uni fees may well change in coming years. Atm they can take a student loan for tuition fees and living costs(latter is means tested on parental income) . We paid ds accommodation/rent and will do so for dd, they pay books, travel, clothing etc from living cost loan.

I don’t have kids anywhere near uni age yet but this is what my dad did for me:
1st degree - took tuition fee loan, plus as much maintenance loan as I could. This was the minimum amount given, as my dad earned quite a lot. He then paid my rent (his attitude was that as it was his job preventing me getting more loan/grants, he had a duty to support me), I lived off the loan. Had a job during holidays.

2nd degree (PGCE) - I was 24 and had lived away from home for 6 years so was assessed as self supporting. Received maximum loans, grants and bursaries, dad gave me nothing (I’m sure he would have jd destitute but I wasn’t!)

Friends at uni ranged from parents paid absolutely everything including tuition, to parents gave no support so people had jobs each week and more in holiday to stay afloat.

If I had kids go to uni, I’d expect them to take loans offered (certainly under the old scheme - the current scheme has much higher interest so would look in to it more) but would want to support them with living costs if I could.

For what it’s worth, I don’t regret my £20k+ student loan nor really resent it leaving my pay every month. Sure it would be nice to have the extra money but I’ve always held graduate jobs so consider my degree well worth what i spent on it.

I couldn't afford to give my sons anything. They're still alive

DS1 has just finished uni and DD2 is about to start. The important thing is to forget the Tuition fees...they only start to pay that back when they start earning over a certain amount. The real issue is the maintenance loan. Even with the maintenance loan, we have had to help with the costs of accomodation as he only qualified for the minimum amount and that soon ran out. The maintenance loan is means tested based on a households residual income. There is a misconception that the maintenance loan is to cover all their living costs but it is not. It is merely an addition to what parents are expected to contribute. So we also have paid a weekly sum to cover his food costs and occassionally travel costs too. He has also worked 2 jobs while at uni and that money was his going out/laundry/clothes/ other stuff costs.
Martin Lewis, MSE, has lots of info on this subject. Here is just one aspect.

*Thanks for the replies.
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For what it’s worth, I don’t regret my £20k+ student loan nor really resent it leaving my pay every month

See, I don't regret mine either because I wouldn't have the job I have now without it. But, I do find it a bit of a millstone round my neck and wish that it wasn't going to persist most of my working life. The only way I could pay this off really quickly is by becoming a super high earner and this is unlikely as I am a teacher

Whilst I don't regret it I'd like to help my children keep theirs down in future if I can. I have learnt that paying the tuition fees isn't wise though!

My kids are early primary so I'm thinking way ahead (possibly unreasonable) but I would like to start saving for these costs now.

We did exactly what you are suggesting and put aside a small amount of money every month (basically, it was half of the child benefit) and put that into a cash ISA.

We weren't specifically thinking of university fees at the time just, as you said, something that they could use for whatever they want. With hindsight, I'm really glad that we did this. Fortunately, we were in a position that giving up some of the child benefit didn't put a strain on our income.

DD will be going into her second year of university in September and she's in London which is incredibly expensive. Our family income is such that she only qualifies for the lowest level of maintenance loan. If we were on the very lowest level of family income then she could get upto an extra £5k per year in maintenance loan.

She was in Halls in the first year and her maximum maintenance loan wouldn't even cover the full cost of the accommodation - never mind having to buy food, books etc.

Although, to be fair, there were other Halls that were cheaper but, even so, after paying the cost of accommodation, she would have have been left with only £450 for the whole year from her maximum maintenance loan and that Hall was miles away from the university.

So, we have committed to topping up her maximum loan to ensure that the accommodation is paid and that she has £75 a week to live on in term time (she had a job over Christmas but we gave her some money over Easter and she has a job arranged for the summer).

We chose £75 as that's roughly where JSA is. She's expected to pay for everything out of that, food, books, phone, clothes whatever.

If our family income was low enough that she qualified for the very highest rate of maintenance loan then that would cover her accommodation at the expensive Hall and £70 a week all year (or £90 a week just in term time).

If she went to the cheaper Hall then her maximum loan would cover the accommodation and £110 a week all year (or £140 a week just in term time).

Starting in September she's in a house share with some friends way up in north London and they've got a real long journey to get into the university on the Northern Line - but, hey, that's student life.

The rent they're paying for that isn't cheap either and her maximum grant just about covers the rent and utility bills and we're topping it up to ensure she gets £75 a week to live on.

Again, if she had qualified for the absolute maximum loan then that would pay the rent and give her £110 a week all year to live on.

But don't forget that living in London is stupidly expensive and things may be different elsewhere.