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 are covering £500 a month for uni costs which is basically the shortfall and have saved accordingly. I am splitting this with the dc father who I am divorced from, so 250 each.

It’s so madly expensive these days and I agree this should be flagged up with parents long before college!!

Some of these replies are very hostile. It’s not easy paying for kids to go to uni, end of! But the unsaid rule is the system expects parents to contribute. My son’s uni is very happy to take parents’ credit card details, even though students are treated as independent adults! Unfortunately the easiest way to afford it is to cut costs at home, up your own pay or get your DD to find a part-time job.

Things that are quite left field but I would seriously consider:

Looking for a sports scholarship to an American uni, esp as she is a girl. They are mandated to offer equal sports scholarships to girls as well as boys and in some colleges (due to male football scholarships) there can be quite a lot available.

Look at Queens in Belfast - a great Russell Group uni, and a nice, manageable and extremely affordable city to live in.

Have her think about doing J1 visas in the summer. This is traditionally a very Irish thing to do. But put it this way - twenty years ago when I did it I averaged more than 300 dollars a night working six days a week waitressing in the Hamptons and that was normal. I spanked it all in a glorious flurry because then uni was free and I had a termtime job and a student grant plus hardship fund - those days are longggggggg gone.

@catspyjamas123

Some of these replies are very hostile. It’s not easy paying for kids to go to uni, end of! But the unsaid rule is the system expects parents to contribute. My son’s uni is very happy to take parents’ credit card details, even though students are treated as independent adults! Unfortunately the easiest way to afford it is to cut costs at home, up your own pay or get your DD to find a part-time job.

It's really not and I do think uni should be free or much lower cost. But come on the wide eyed astonishment at it when you've had 4 kids who will all reach uni at a similar time and earn a good salary is a bit much.

As others have said OP, part time work and student loans. That’s the standard. Most people are lot funded by their parents. For most degrees, If you actually add up the hours spent in lectures and seminars, it’s no more than a couple of days. The rest of the time can be used by students to work.

OP if your kids are old enough to learn to drive, then they are old enough to have part time jobs to pay for lessons. Most people i know had about 10 lessons yhen test and pass.

Also, you have 4 kids, so potentially they can't go to uni if you can't afford to help, or they need to take a year off to work and save. Surely this is something you factored in when having 4 children. Not having a go, but it must have been obvious you wouldn't be able to support 4 teens going to uni?

For me, i worked for 2 years during my a levels to save up the shortfall i would need for fees. And i worked essentially full time during uni to pay for accomofation, and spending money etc. Its easy as a student as you can work evenings and nights in bars and clubs.

Student loans, she gets a part time job and works. Whilst I was at uni my parents would help with the shortfall between my loan and rent and some food shops. But the rest of it was on me, I worked 12 hours a week sometimes more if I had time at a supermarket. Then in the holidays I worked full time hours to save up for the next term.

Due to your income she would only get a loan for the course and about 4k. This means about 2.5k is needed for rent, then add on travel, food, books, entertainment, stuff she needs. It is expensive but if you start now you can put money aside, think of:
Part time job for DD
Can you increase your or DH's earnings and put it aside
Save any Xmas/Birthday money in a "uni fund"
Sell things you don't need for the fund (think unused bikes, loft contents)
We have twins at Uni, so both started the same year!

Sorry no real advice, it is tricky. Worth remembering that you won’t be paying out for DD’s activities/driving lessons/food/clothes once she’s out the house.

Also crucial to remember that the cost of halls is vastly vastly inflated so accommodation will only be extortionate for one year. After that, it will be more around the £4-5k marker (or at least when the DC were at uni).

Durham halls are criminally expensive (again, DC went there) and are IMO designed as a form of social selection for their intake. At one point the cost was rising 12% a year! On the flip side, college accommodation does provide lots of opportunities for on campus work - most will have a bar and small shop which will help toward costs.

We saved as we realised we would have to contribute quite a lot. I think most other people have as well, depending on their income. Unless you have been living under a stone, surely you have heard that parents can be expected to contribute quite a bit. Why have you only just realised when your child is in year 13? Really unfair to expect her to take a year out to save because you haven't bothered to do anything yourself.

We have dd at uni, two other children too. Our family income is about £25k less than yours so dd gets a larger loan but I still pay her a weekly allowance, and pay for her phone.

You must be able to make up the difference unless there is something you are not mentioning.

Some ideas:
Look at the accommodation choices - DDs in first yr was £120/w but you could easily pay £160/w if you had an en suite bathroom, so maybe you can't afford that. Shared facilities can bring accommodations low as 100/w.
What do you spend in her now? My dd did music centre, Guides, music lessons, dance class; none so expensive but it's at least £30 a week I'm not spending, without counting petrol or bus fares.
Can she work pt while there? Tutoring (online even) could be a good money spinner.
Can you save anywhere? You say you don't have phones or use the gym - what are you spending on? Can you switch to a cheaper supermarket, cheaper car, not go on holiday next summer?

yy all those saying "get a loan" - the lowest student loan, which the op will get, is only £4K. Maybe she should ditch Durham op and go somewhere with cheaper halls.n

For driving lessons I paid for a licence, theory test, practical test and the first block of lessons as their 17th birthday present. Their weekend job at college and the money on their savings from Christmas and birthdays past covered the rest.

Everyone knows uni costs. And on 70 000 around £500 a month shouldn't be an unreasonable contribution to make up to full loan when you know your daughter is bright enough to apply to Durham. It cant have been a bolt out of the blue.

Those saying that costs should be flagged in Y7... I appreciate that there has been a huge rate of change in student finance (I have stepchildren 2 years apart, different rules) and that parents - if they went to uni - had a very different situation.

So I can’t disagree with flagging it, but really... do we advocate no personal responsibility?

My kids are 5 and 9 and I’m saving for this now. I expect zero maintenance help. Sell your house, DC can get loans/a job/work on holidays. Can you get a higher paid job? Why should the state help, except for nursing etc where clear shortages?

Also crucial to remember that the cost of halls is vastly vastly inflated so accommodation will only be extortionate for one year. After that, it will be more around the £4-5k marker (or at least when the DC were at uni).

I disagree that is vastly vastly inflated nowadays. The halls cost quite a bit on a weekly basis but you don't have to pay over summer (unlike private accommodation usually) so it often isn't much difference.

I didn’t go to uni as we couldn’t afford it and i am incredibly worried about finding uni for my bright naturally academic children (especially my eldest whose career aspirations do need uni). Our income is probably about 40k and we privately rent so We earn too much for any help.

If your daughter is due to go next year and will Need to work. I would strongly urge her to put it off for a year and try and work that year. with Covid around I think a lot of student friendly jobs are not around at the moment, and may take a while to recover.

It’s so madly expensive these days and I agree this should be flagged up with parents long before college!!

But everyone knows college is generally expensive... I mean what do people want...a list given to you from the hospital!?

Congratulations on your new baby...did you know the the following are quite expensive and you will need to accommodate for these costs...
Childcare
School uniform
Driving lessons
And
University

Feel free to add anything else to the list that you don't particularly feel you should be forking out for...

I think we’ve been fed a lie that it’s achievable with loans and a bit of part time work

You must be joking... 70k does not qualify you as 'normal folk'. You earn more than enough.

The point is, OP, that you have decided to prioritise spending your disposable income (of which you have a LOT more than most people) on fun things for your children now. Which is fine, your choice. But you do in fact have disposable income and if you want your children to be able to go to university and not have to work to support themselves, you need to start making different choices. You are very lucky to be in a position to make those choices.

@EvilPea

I think we’ve been fed a lie that it’s achievable with loans and a bit of part time work

Who has said it is achievable with loans and a bit of part-time work though?

Advanced search can help with personalised suggestions.

Maybe stop the over payments on your mortgage, and put that towards her living costs?

Also: recognise that you can’t really lament “when will you be reasonably well off” and be making mortgage overpayments. To be able to afford to do that, kind of is my definition of being reasonably well off As I said upthread - you can’t have it all.

The maintenance loan that most students get doesn’t cover their rent, let along living costs.
There are two alternatives - parents top up, students work.
But good luck right now to students looking for work.

You earn enough. And remember that you won't be spending money on your DD's food at home, bus fares, clothes, clubs, pocket money, etc etc.
Some universities are cheaper than others. Your DD should research that. And think now about how to make herself attractive to employers for holiday work.