AIBU?
To think it used to be free/way cheaper to go to university??
Univercities · 23/12/2019 20:38
When I went to university to do my degree it was practically free (republic of Ireland) I had to pay €800 per year registration fee (which I worked/saved for every summer) and that was it!! I was very lucky that my parents paid my accommodation fees(which included bill costs)! Approximately 4K per year. But I worked every weekend and lived off that money!
Then when I did my PGCE in the uk I paid approximately 3k but got it back throughout the year! I had worked all summer and saved 2.5k to live off and then used the 3k to pay rent and other costs (£62 per week)
I know I was lucky! But has it changed dramatically since or were ppl always taking out loans etc?? That was only 10years ago! NC’d!
YourOpinionIsNoted · 23/12/2019 20:49
I was in uni 2003-2006. Paid £1,200 tuition a year and because I went for the cheapest halls in my first year at £2,800 for the year I could pay the whole lot from my 3k loan. Worked to fund living costs.
When I did my pgce straight after, so 06-07, the fees had jumped up to 3k. Luckily I had a 9k bursary which meant this was ok, but it felt like a real hike.
The cost now is insane. I didn't do a masters (despite getting a first 
) because I couldn't afford it. These days I'm not sure it would have been such a given that I'd have even gone to uni in the first place. I know there's loans etc but the level of debt is unbelievable. I'm still paying off my student loans now.
Boulshired · 23/12/2019 20:56
Whilst it maybe expensive for my oldest two it is very much available to them. I would never of believed I could of afforded university (late 80s) with no back up from parents. Definitely more children from my old council estate go to university now than they did in my era.
, no fees to pay, easy to get a full grant, dossy course, easy to get cash in hand jobs, rent was cheap as chips (very dodgy housing though) and no debts when you left .... different story now my DS is at Uni.SabineUndine · 23/12/2019 21:07
I went to uni in the 1980s. I got a full grant (no parental contribution) and my fees paid by my local authority. The grant was enough to live on, BUT the standard of accommodation was often much lower than it seems to be these days. It was the height of Thatcherism though, hard to find jobs and also quite hard to find somewhere cheap to live.
rednsparkley · 23/12/2019 21:10
I graduated in 1996 and my parents had to cover everything as I didn't qualify for a grant. I got a £3k loan in my final year (max amount). Living was cheaper - and of course we didn't need to pay for mobile phones, laptops, tablets etc as they didn't exist. Hardly any students had cars.
Being a student then was way different - we lived in ancient halls with shared shower blocks. When I lived out of halls the accomodation was HMOs run by slum landlords. None of the purpose built accomodation with en-suites that unis trumpet about now.
Going to university now has become a business with kids and their parents as the customers. Obviously if you are paying for a service, you expect a return on your investment. It's a different beast to my day
OllyBJolly · 23/12/2019 21:12
Yep - I was one of these seventies students. No fees, £2k per year grant plus travel expenses (£400 pa) plus the dole for Christmas and Easter and easy to find summer jobs.
So lucky to be of that generation. I really do appreciate that every day. Today's kids have a much tougher time.
students were real piss takers Only 10% of school leavers went to university then.
coconuttelegraph · 23/12/2019 21:39
Are you asking if student funding has changed? Of course it has, massively, university was free when I did my degree, the only debt students had was their overdrafts if they couldn't live on their grants or parental contributions. There must be loads of information about all the changes online
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