Affording Uni

[bustybetty]

My daughter (year 13) is considering uni. We are a normal family with no parental help (handouts) hubby is on 50K and my work is about 20K, we live in a modest house and have three teens as well. My question is I have just looked at the maintenance loan she would be entitled to and it doesn't even cover the cost of the accommodation - how do people afford this? We don't have spare money and I coupon where I can, we don't have phone contracts or gym memberships. I don't understand how most people afford to send their children to uni. Currently I'm thinking she will have to take a year out to work to be able to afford it.

ideas anyone?

We started saving £50 pm each when ours were born. With birthday and Christmas cash gifts from relatives, it ought to cover the tuition at least.

The rent / accommodation will be paid for with their student loan.

I honestly think (and this was talked about on the higher education board) that parents should be given the details about university costs when their child starts year 7 so that they can plan ahead.

Both Dh and I went to uni in the 90s so are aware of costs.

We knew current costs because I had looked years ago and kept up to date.

The maximum maintenance loan is £8944 and at the wages the OP is on the child can only get £4168 meaning the parent has to fork £4776 per year.

Durham catered (and you may not have a choice as it is a collegiate system) is £7894 according to my notes and £5526 for just a basic room whereas Warwick, also an RG uni has a massive tiered system of accommodation which can be incredibly cheap from £100 pwk.

I think you need to look at what you spend on her now and realise you will be saving that once she isn't at home. But yes, it is totally shit especially with jobs becoming so scarce.

@grool

will we ever be reasonably off

You are joking, right?! You esrn £70k per year. Thats about £44k more than my household makes. I'm sure somehow you will cope.

The £70k a year will be spent on every day life stuff and they have 4 children to accommodate.

I think people believe that when you earn £100k somehow you spend £40k and bank the rest.

Complete sympathies OP, similar situation for us a few years back. It was a very big shock!

Echoing other comments, costs vary massively. I would forget Durham if I were you. Also exclude Bristol Exeter and London. Exclude catered accommodation too (everywhere). Good value unis by which I mean cheap accommodation, are for example Manchester Cardiff Leeds Birmingham. I appreciate it depends what course she wants to do. My son went to Birmingham and his first year halls, self catered, was just under 4K. That was Ashcroft in Pritchatts Park. Big difference from 7k you're quoting. Also it was right next to campus so no travel costs or bike needed, another big saving. Also we are not too far away so big cost savings on to and from travel at the end of term. All these things add up. Big cities have plentiful student employment too, plus cheap supermarkets.

When we were in your position we made a big spreadsheet of possible unis and different accommodation costs. That really focused our thinking. We told our kids that there was £x available so that if they want an en-suite which was clearly essential according to my son initially, he would have only £4 a month to live on or something like that 😆 Somehow he survived a shared bathroom.

Good luck!

In lockdown I realised my entire income actually is spent on the teens clubs and after school activities. Now we have driving lessons to add into the mix.....ahhhhhh will we ever be reasonably off!!!

You’ve got to be kidding?! If you can afford to spend thousands on your children’s hobbies and pay for their driving lessons you are more than reasonably off.

You spend 20k a year on after-school activities???? Choices, Op. You made them. Four kids and expensive clubs and activities. None of these things are a necessity. Something's gotta give.

I’ve not read the full thing. I’m a lone parent on just under £70k and pay my DS’s entire accommodation costs. He has a loan for the fees. I saved for many years for this but lost half of that “pot” when I divorced. It’s a struggle but I want him to go to uni. If he took the maintenance loan he would still be £6k a year short on living costs. I didn’t want his debt even higher as it’s a long course. He has had a couple of jobs in hols that have helped give him spending money. The costs are eye-wateringly high. Part-time jobs would help but at Durham there will be a lot of work to do too. It just seems to be expected but unsaid that parents will pay. That’s why there’s this gap - for a parental top-up. My parents helped me when I was at uni so I consider I’m paying the favour forward. My ex husband has made it very clear he won’t pay a penny but I won’t let my DS down, nor my DD when her time comes.

Actually if you're spending 20k on your kids activities, then (assuming an even split) you will be saving around £5k when she leaves home and is responsible forher own hobbies.
Just give her that.

To be fair though OP If your entire 20k is spent on teen activities then you need to scale those back! That's 5k per child per year!! That's MORE than enough to get your dd through uni!!

@ForeverBubblegum yes...exactly my thinking too!!

OP you have an expensive lifestyle. Of your choosing. To be perfectly blunt you should have looked at the loans years ago - nothing has changed. You were always going to have to top up to the full value of the loan. Around £4K a year.

That said, Durham halls are more expensive than most, and although you can choose the cheapest halls (£5.5k) you won't necessarily be allocated those. There are other very well regarded universities with cheaper accommodation though.

If you want your kids to go to uni then something has to give. Up to you what you prioritise.

Great minds

Reading this I really hope my kids don't want to do extracurricular activities if it costs 5K a year per child.

We earn a fair bit less than you (SAHM) and our DC went to a Uni a fair way away .Managed fine .Without being rude ,I think your outgoings seem a bit on the high side TBH .Even a "cheap" foreign holiday for 6 people is going to be at least 3 or 4 grand! Adding in sports clubs and so on and you will as you say have used at least all of your own income!As far as Driving lessons go , can you just give a block for Xmas or Birthdays and see if they can make up the difference by P/T jobs or DGP Money ? There are many people who earn less than you and priortise their spending to enable further education cutting back on other things to allow this .Few people are millionaires, and have to cut their costs to balance the books!

Sorry I meant I was a SAHM and DH worked!

ahhhhhh will we ever be reasonably off!!!

You have a household income of 70K, that is very reasonable.

I find it very hard to believe you have no spare money whatsoever every month unless you are awful at budgeting, where on earth does it all go?

if you're really struggling then your DC can all get part-time jobs to save up for uni. They can also work part-time whilst studying.

Look at different universities. My dd has just started at Newcastle (extremely cheap right now as she can’t go out!). But she's in the cheapest accommodation, self-catered, shared bathroom. It’s still a nice flat. It costs about the same as the minimum maintenance loan which is what she gets.

And then, what does your daughter want to study? Healthcare subjects get an NHS bursary. STEM subjects may get industry sponsorship/apprenticeships.

They can work and save during the holidays, starting when they finish A Levels in June.

And you’ll save money when they’re not at home too.

Have a look at SaveTheStudent for ideas of what they need to budget.

I would recommend she takes a year out and works to save money

My SD got a student loan. The maintenance we used to pay to her mum when she was at home we paid to her instead. She worked as well.

Another option which I’m not sure has been mentioned is a regular educational loan. You have to pay it back regardless of earnings so it’s not like a student loan, but lots of people have to use these to do private courses, MBAs etc. It’s more of a last resort but could be considered to bridge the gap especially if she’s doing a course with almost guaranteed employment like medicine or nursing. My sister went to a private specialist college and at the time the fees were about 3x standard tuition fees so lots of students took out these loans to bridge the gap if they didn’t have enough parental help. This was a pretty much guaranteed employment situation though.

DD went 10 years ago for four years. She did Foundation year at home uni and then went to Uni in Bristol. She received £1000 a term. Her rent was £575 a month just cheaper than halls. A studio flat in a good area and it meant she could walk to uni. It was partly furnished and we picked up a few pieces at the charity shop eg book shelves. We paid for books and art materials.We ordered a veggie box for her every week. Anything else she had to fund by getting casual work. She did cleaning and a bit of babysitting. Other students got jobs as waitresses, cleaners, supermarkets. Later DD worked in H&B. We ended up paying quite a lot out on other courses when she left.

We were on less than you by about £20,000. I paid her rent and veggie box which was more than half my wage. I scrimped and didn’t buy any new clothes unless crucial like shoes. DD learnt to shop in charity shops and her and her friends used to have clothes swap parties. Her boyfriend picked up casual work as a kitchen porter to fund his way through. They didn’t go out much except to other students houses.

My friend’s son went to Durham he got work on the Student union and bar work. He is still there as he has a job at the Uni.

We have a bit of money now they have all left home. We are both retired now.

By the time your daughter is at uni, won’t the older ones be working? So you won’t be paying for after school clubs and driving lessons.

We're in the same boat,Daughter is now going into her third year. Unfortunately her loan doesn't cover her accommodation so we've had to cover her costs. I work as a nurse in the NHS & I also work bank shifts to cover her costs.
Fortunately she's the only one so we manage and she's lucky that she gets a good allowance from both sets of Grandparents.
You just need to cut your cloth or your child looks to go to a Uni nearer to home.
Unfortunately there's not many jobs around due to Covid.

Sports scholarships were mentioned - my ds was England squad level in his sport. He got gym membership but only for times that he couldn’t use it, a bag, and £500/year- which he had to jump through hoops for. It literally covered one training session a week and none of his competitions or squad training or travel etc.

My youngest is currently at med school in London. Six year course, gets minimum maintenance loan due to our family income. Was in halls last year (first year) so has to pay for food, transport (halls in Acton), course materials etc, had a fairly quiet social life but did go out and did sport about twice a week. Not extravagant lifestyle at all and veggie so eats a lot of pulses etc. We contributed £500/month. This year she’s living in shared accomodation, the rent is about the same but there are bills on top plus it’s a full year contract so rent isn’t only during the academic year. Again, not an extravagant lifestyle but not sitting in every night. We contribute £600/month.

She was planning to work during the holidays, had sports coaching lined up but due to Covid that didn’t happen. Can’t reasonably fit in a term time job. She worked right through sixth form, paid for her own driving lessons, car, insurance, social life while still getting the grades for med school.

A good start would be to watch the martin Lewis stuff on student finance.

I love the answer to a reminder that your family income is high. "But after we pay the mortgage there's not much left." Sell your house then, move into something much cheaper and smaller. Maybe rent the smallest possible flat your family can fit in, in the least desirable area within 2 hours commute of your workplaces and schools. You'll have more money left over. Doesn't sound appealing? No? Then maybe accept that you do have a large household income and your choice to spend a large chunk of it on a mortgage is just that, a choice.