To think I'll never be able to afford DCs university

[TrackyBottomsTuckedinSocks]

Conversation with people last night mentioned their DCs came out of uni with 60K debts. Also the cost of paying their DCs rent and everything else. (Student loan covers tuition fees?) We're in the bracket that doesn't qualify for financial assistance, but doesn't have too much left over at the end of the month either, with no extravagant lifestyle to boot. Do I discourage DC from going to uni (next Sept) or do we accept that a debt like that is an inevitability/investment? I feel so worried about it

Here’s Martin Lewis on student debt:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-tuition-fees-changes/

I'd be clear to your DC that you will struggle to top up their living cost loan to the amount the government expects you too - so they should look at getting a job to save up some savings if they want to go to uni and will need to get a job while they are there as well. Save what you can now as well. Show them the household figures if necessary too. Advise them they will need to go for cheaper accommodation etc. Hyst set the expectations.
They will get a loan for tuition fees which covers all of them.
And a loan for living costs but your child won't get the full amount if your household income is over a certain level.

My folks were clear to me that they couldn't afford to pay for me to live away at uni. I stayed at home and went to the local uni (had 3 to choose from luckily).

I wont be able to afford for my DC to live away. They could take a loan out for the living costs, if they want, or stay at home.

Do you mean your household income is over £65/70k so your DC will only be able to borrow the minimum loan?

If so (same as us), you have some options. They could live at home, choose a town with cheaper accommodation or they can work.

Just as an example…My DC gets the minimum loan of £4200. Halls alone (not catered) was about £5500. Then we gave £50 a week for food.

Loan + part time job, including in the summer leading up to uni! Then finding a cheaper place to rent, budget food, library, no extravagant nights out.

The loan in the UK is repaid as a percentage of earnings, so I would not put in the same category as other debt eg mortgage, and I would not consider it parents’ responsibility.

I would never ever consider encouraging someone not to go to uni

They could take a loan out for the living costs,

The problem with the loan is, they can’t borrow more than they’re allowed which is based on your income. My son can’t borrow more than £4200.

@Redlocks28

They could take a loan out for the living costs,

The problem with the loan is, they can’t borrow more than they’re allowed which is based on your income. My son can’t borrow more than £4200.

Ah ok, well, they will need to supplement the loan with savings, wages or, if we have spare cash, us. Or just live at home.

Everyone can receive the minimum maintenance loan which is just over 4k. This rarely covers rent ime. Ds has that and we pay the rent which was £116 a week for halls and now in third year it's £160 per week as he's somewhere where student accommodation isn't plentiful and everything is megga expensive. They only way we have managed it is because I had an inheritance and it's all gone on ds's rent plus he's worked a bit in holidays.

It's much better if the family are really low earners and then the student can borrow maximum loan. Really unfair as it doesn't take outgoings into consideration but that's the way it is.

I wouldn't put ds off but I would be completely truthful and say you can help a bit but he will need to come up with the rest. I know students who have worked for a year full time and saved all their wages to enable them to go. Do a proper spreadsheet so he knows exactly what will be expected. Don't forget to include travel to and from uni.

There will be posters who say he can get a job at uni, do NOT bank on this, he might be lucky but it's harder than you think and also depends on the course they are doing.

There are other options like apprenticeships too, have they considered them? Or is there a uni nearby so they can live at home while study?

They could take a year out, get a job and save the money for university if you can't afford to top them up to the full loan amount.

How about a degree apprenticeship? My DS did one - studied and worked over 3 years. Finished with a degree, a completed apprenticeship and no debt.

Walked straight into a well paying job too. Maybe worth looking at?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeships

@EatYourVegetables

Loan + part time job, including in the summer leading up to uni! Then finding a cheaper place to rent, budget food, library, no extravagant nights out.

The loan in the UK is repaid as a percentage of earnings, so I would not put in the same category as other debt eg mortgage, and I would not consider it parents’ responsibility.

I would never ever consider encouraging someone not to go to uni

I agree with the working and loan being the responsibility of the student aspects of this post. But there are many alternatives to uni for academic students, so I don’t think encouraging them to explore other routes is a bad thing.

In my view, too much pressure was out on getting too many people into uni. The result is a single degree is often now worth very little, and to prove who the most able are, further education on top of a degree is needed. It prolongs the cost for students and saddles them with huge debts, and no guarantee of a well pay job at the end. Yes, you only pay the debt back as you can afford it, but it’s a hard start for many young people who don’t get well paying jobs after graduation.

Unless the career requires a degree I.e medicine then I think not going to uni is an option to seriously consider and that should be encouraged. Even lawyers can now qualify via apprenticeship now, also accountants and engineers.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor There will be posters who say he can get a job at uni, do NOT bank on this, he might be lucky but it's harder than you think and also depends on the course they are doing.

The OP's DC could get a job now and be earning & saving for a year before going to Uni which would enable them to save. Maybe more jobs locally to home, such as supermarket shelf/stacking or picking, local shop work, waiting on in local cafes/restaurants, or even doing some local gardening/window cleaning/car washing. Some part time work for a year locally to home will give them reference/experience which would help them get a part time job in their Uni town.

Have you costed up what loan they’d be likely to receive, and what you can afford to contribute. Start there. Knowledge is power and will stop you worrying.

Student loan ‘debt’ on graduation is really more of a tax on earnings, so I wouldn’t worry about that. Read up on it, the link posted above to MSE is very clearly explained.

[quote user1497207191]**@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor* There will be posters who say he can get a job at uni, do NOT bank on this, he might be lucky but it's harder than you think and also depends on the course they are doing.*

The OP's DC could get a job now and be earning & saving for a year before going to Uni which would enable them to save. Maybe more jobs locally to home, such as supermarket shelf/stacking or picking, local shop work, waiting on in local cafes/restaurants, or even doing some local gardening/window cleaning/car washing. Some part time work for a year locally to home will give them reference/experience which would help them get a part time job in their Uni town.[/quote]
I said that in my post, work before they go.

I have had the "Uni talk" with my DC in regards to debt, course subject and career progression, especially for subjects that are not "highly academic".
I have discussed / shown them different routes into their preferred profession via apprenticeships.

And we have made it clear that we as parents will not be able to support financially unless they stay local as what we can offer is very limited.

You don't need to pay for them. If the loan doesn't cover their living expenses then they need to get a job. This was the case for me - I studied in an expensive city and quickly realised the loan itself wasn't enough so I got a job. I worked part time during term time and full time during the holidays. I was very lucky to get a job that let me do that. Most people didn't even look for jobs though so there wasn't much competition.

@NewNameADayKeepsSpiesAtBay Unless the career requires a degree I.e medicine then I think not going to uni is an option to seriously consider and that should be encouraged. Even lawyers can now qualify via apprenticeship now, also accountants and engineers.

Maybe, maybe not. Depends on career aspirations really. You, you "can" qualify as say an accountant or lawyer outside Uni, but it's a lot harder work as you end up studying evenings and weekends whilst working a full time job on usually very low wages. Your career options are also usually curtailed as many (usually larger) employers in the professions have a degree/Uni as minimum requirement, and don't regard an equivalent professional qualification as acceptable.

At one particular "big 4" accountancy firm, the available trainee positions for school leavers are at technician level, whereas trainee positions for graduates are chartered level. That means you end up spending a lot longer working on low wages and studying evenings and weekends. Many trainees give up once they've achieved technician level, which is a shame, but they can't continue with the work/study workload for a few more years! I understand it's similar with engineering, where the apprentice school leaver positions are similarly aiming at lower professional levels than graduates who have more options.

Of course, leaving school and getting trainee/apprentice jobs is a viable alternative and does give entry into professions, but there is the risk that you'll spend your career at lower rungs and in smaller/less attractive employers.

Oh and my course wasn't low contact. I did a science degree with very full days and then I worked Wednesday afternoons and a full day Saturday or Sunday. During holidays I worked as many hours as possible. None of my friends stayed during the holidays so it wasn't like there was anything else to do.

My dd gets the minimum £4200. We pay the difference for her halls and she gets £120 a month allowance, she then has to work. We have got some savings because we knew we were higher income so made provisions from when kids were young

Dc1 will probably have to study at home which is unlikely to be too much of an issue as like pp we live in a large city with choice in that regard.

Dc2 is very, very unlikely to go down the academic route so if it was crucial to happiness/success we could probably stretch/borrow for dc1.

Lots of kids stay at home for uni, particularly if you live in/near a city where you have several universities.
That's the only way some families can afford it.
And most students these days have a job either full time for 3 months each summer or part time in term time.

DS worked ft since July and saved the majority so he went off to Uni with around £3k saved. His loan (minimum) didn’t even cover the first terms rent in halls, £500 short.

He’s currently job hunting down there because we can’t afford to top him up by much.

They essentially need 5k per year of uni each to top up the loan so be honest with them, say whether you can afford any of that, or whether they will have to save it up by working for a year or live at home while attending uni if you can afford to support them at home (and to live within their means by choosing accommodation which is not going to swallow up their whole budget - this is getting harder as student digs become more luxury and inflated in price so choose the uni wisely and go for self-catering and shared bathroom options).

Also, they need to consider which universities have expensive living accommodation, so maybe avoid any in London unless you live there. Some uni accommodation in London is almost twice that of where DD is at university (Newcastle)

Coming out of uni with debts is normal; so don't get too hung up in that. The fissure may or may not be highly exaggerated, depending on how long and what debt. But they are all leaving in debt because of their student loans and often overdrafts etc too.

The most important thing is to work out how much it will cost, how much money your DC will get and what the shortfall is. 'Get a job' isn't always so easy, first of all the issue of job availability and secondly it's all very well people saying they did a degree and worked as well but not everyone is able to process information and study as efficiently as everyone else. On a personal level I struggle and whilst academically able, my processing ability means it takes me much longer to learn so a job would seriously hider me. Getting a job prior to university may or may not be an option for him, also making savings wherever you/he can when it comes to shopping/food/bills etc