To think it's going to be a struggle to send DC to university now?

[coffeerevelsrule]

DC a couple of years off this now but it's beginning to worry me nonetheless.

My finances are as follows: I'm divorced and earn about £52k. Ex husband contributes nothing and I have to pay him £10k when youngest child reaches 21 as part of our divorce settlement. I have just over £21k in savings. I usually manage to save about £100-£200 per month - this is quite a bit less than a couple of years ago just due to rising costs and having to replace my car when it died last year. My mortgage is currently just under £700 per month and I also have about £5k other debts (low - 0 interest - unavoidable at the time).

Martin Lewis website said last time I checked that I should expect to contribute about £7k per child per year. This would have been a struggle anyway but now looks pretty much impossible. My mortgage is fixed for another couple of years and my fuel until next year. Both will rise massively just as dd1 is due to go to uni. What the fuck will happen?

AIBU to think that if inflation/interest rates stay like this they are going to have to look again at the thresholds for parental contributions but AIalsoBU to say they won't and university is going to become unaffordable for many?

The short terms at some prestigious universities (Oxbridge, for instance) are very pressured but the flipside to that is that the vacations are long and, although they'll be expected to do some academic work during them, they should be able to work at least part of the time. Another option might be to encourage them to take a year out in between school and university to get a job and save.

DD worked from aged 15 doing 4 hours a week and then 6 often 16/20 during the holidays.

Uni has long breaks at Christmas and they finish April no reason they can’t work in a shop and save the money for Uni. that’s almost 6 months of the year not in Uni. She had £5,000
saved before she’s went. Plus she ran a car and had a social life.

Stop taking the grunt of this and get them jobs.

Can you remortgage or take some money out your pension? I’m a single mum and am using my pension to save for dds university.

Sorry, the ref to prestigious universities was to explain why they almost certainly won't be living at home. I had thought about getting them to put ex down as the resident parent, but, aside from its being untrue, which could be an issue, it would also mean that the dc would be in more debt. Maybe they could do that and I could still contribute as much as I possible could and they could save the excess, if there was any, to pay off the debt sooner? Or is that stupid?

I really don't want them working excessively when studying, but the idea of a working year first is quite nice, though I suppose they'd feel left behind when all their friends went off?

I also didn't know you could get more of a loan by increasing pension contributions. Thank you CantFindTheBeat who mentioned that. Maybe I could do that and then gift some back later to pay some of their debt?

We couldn't afford to top up our sons university loans. One of them got a bursary.

I don't think you have a choice. They'll be fine working and studying. You're holding them back.

The problem is, you want it all ways.

You want to be able to give them enough that they don’t have to work. You don’t want them to get a bigger loan because they’d be in more debt. You want them to go to the universities of their choice without compromising, even if expensive, and to go when it suits them best. You want it all to be possible despite the economic landscape more generally.

I sympathise, because I want all those things too. But I know there will have to be unwelcome compromises somewhere - that’s life, eh?

I'm stunned your DH contributes nothing to his children, won't contribute to them directly to help them with university aspirations at the time, but gets a payout at the end of all this from you.

I'm really sorry, OP. That sounds so unfair for you and your DCs.

@coffeerevelsrule

The maintenance loan you child receives is based on the total amount of household income.

The income levels are banded, so the less income coming into your house, the higher the loan your child can claim up to.

At the moment, you say your are earning £52k per annum. If you contribute £2k+ extra to your pension, that brings you down into the next bracket meaning your DC is eligible for more *

www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/maintenance-loans.html

• do look into it fully, I'm a parent of uni children but not an expert.

My parents didn’t contribute - I worked from age 14 and therefore had some savings when I went to uni. Then I got a job during my first year for the rest of the time - I think all students should do the same.

Will you be at the right age to withdraw from your pension when your DD goes to university? Otherwise I’m not sure this is a wise/viable plan.

He may qualify for a student grant based on parental means . A student can work a part time job during term time and fulltime during vacations (we did and so did our sons) ; obtain maximum student loan, apply to the university for any bursaries they offer.

If he REALLY wants to study, your son can and will survive without your financial support.

Admittedly my DD1 was at home and at Uni locally, so not living in but she worked all holidays and before Uni 5-6 days a week on a dairy farm, and also charged (a decent amount per hour) to ride other people's horses and I would say after expenses of keeping and competing 2 horses of her own (which we didn't subsidise, but I calculate is the equivalent of about £7k a year), plus a nominal sum for food here as well as funding her own car which she needed to travel between home/work/horses/uni , she still managed to save a few thousand (however this child is a saver, not a spender, nor a drinker)
Is there a reason your child cannot work in the holidays at least and save up some of the money to afford to go? Puts them in good stead for realising the cost of things, the value of working hard, and that parents don't just hand it to them on a plate.

• meant to add she didn't apply for a maintenance loan

I'm a single parent to 3 including a set of a twins. I won't be contributing to uni costs. I live in a large city where several unis are commutable. If they want the "halls experience" then they'll need to self fund.
I've done both a full time degree and a part time one....I can tell you with certainty that the halls experience isn't worth it

Can you not downsize when they leave ? Mine hardly came home, and the water bill dropped !

Students of parents on a low income get or can apply for extra funding from their uni. I think it is about £1k extra per term.

Why does your ex not contribute? How does he get away with that and a 10k hando out from you? That makes no sense. Surely you could argue that his 10k could be his contribution towards DC's uni education, and share it between them.

I agree with PPs. Explain to DC that the rising cost of living means funds will be very tight, and that they need to get a PT job now to save, and to plan to work during the holidays. If they are applying for Ozxbridge, bear in mind that Oxford definitely doesn't allow students to work PT during term time. But many colleges will have a hardship fund. They might want to apply to a wealthy and generous college for this reason.

How much does your ex earn?

The kids can choose either parent as their 'sponsor'. If he (household income) earns under £25k they would also probably get bursaries from their Unis.

You could pay off their loans later if it bothered you (not a savvy decision)

Would a Degree Apprenticeship solve any of the problems?

We helped our Son out with Shopping (always taking groceries for him when we visited ,and treating him to meals out /clothes and so on .) He had a small job in the holidays working for his friends Dad.Managed fine.

I would say you have 2 options: be prepared to part with your savings or they will have to get a part time job. I am funding DS £320 a month living costs, a huge chunk of my £2300 take home pay. His 4.5k maintainance loan didn't even cover his halls. It went on our household income, and my DP isn't his Dad so it screwed us. I am strongly persuading DS to get a job.

Would they have a year out and work and save?
I think it’s awful they can’t borrow enough to even cover halls based on parents income. It’s a loan why can’t they all borrow the same.
I think a lot of people don’t realise this.
They are adults why should parental income count?

I'm afraid you're being precious, OP. If your DCs end up going to top universities, they may qualify for grants/scholarships. Those at Oxbridge can be generous. If they are very academic, they will be able to handle the workload AND do some part-time work. I wouldn't advise that at Oxbridge, where there is a much bigger workload than at the other top universities, with very short terms. But wherever they go, they will be able to work in the university holidays, in particular in the summer holidays. £5,000 a year from holiday jobs would be easily achievable, plus let's say £3,000 a year from a modest amount of part-time work during term time if they're not at Oxbridge. I'm not saying they should spend all their time working, only that they could earn that if they wanted. And that's assuming minimum wage type work. They may well be able to get something better paid.

can they get a job now? I started working at 15 at a cafe, working extra hours in the school holidays (and no it didn't impact my GSCE and A level Grades, I did very well). I loved saving money so took a second job at Tesco towards the end of my A levels, ended up enjoying working so decided to take a gap year and work for a year even though I didn't need to. I ended up going to uni with about 15k in savings (would have been more but I spent about 5k travelling at the end of my gap year)

I’d definitely encourage pt job from 16 and saving. They can earn well above minimum wage as hospitality are desperate for staff. They can work a little in term time and more hols.