University fees

[Informationeededplease]

Am I being unreasonable to reconsider university for DD
mum so confused by the funding ?
we earn currently 80k and I have no clue what we would be expected to pay for Accomadation, fees or of DD could take out any loans or if they would need to be paid back and when…. I hate that people are just expected to know this or be able to understand all the complicated systems!….. if we can’t claim anything/ loans ect then AIBU to just expect her to not go and try and find a way to study at home ? Because from what I understand a three year course could cost us around 60k?!!

Start by reading this

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

YABU. The Student Loans Company can answer lots of questions, as can her school/college.

You don’t pay anything, except a bit to top up her maintenance loan which she lives on during term, this is dependent on income.

Your DD pays her fees and loans (for living on while away from home) back from her salary after graduation, as a % of her income.

Where have you got the idea you’d pay £60k?! Her school should do an open evening to talk you through it- email her head of sixth form.

When people on here talk about saving fir DC at university they usually mean saving to pay their DC’s rent for them while they live in halls/digs. If you can’t afford this then DD pays it from her student loan, and gets a part time job while at uni.

Also came to say read up on student finance! Panic not

What's confusing. There's loads of information if you google. To save your thumbs I'll tell you - your dc will get a loan for their fees, and a loan for the minimum maintenance which is about £4500 a year. You are expected to top that up by around £3-400 a month.

No @titchy not £3 - 4K a month!!

Sorry, misread!

It’s all easily available online. You should also be able to speak to the school/college who can advise or Citizens’ Advice will also be able to tell you and help you work through it. The government website has a basic calculator - there is no amount you’re expected to contribute, just the amount between how much your child needs, how much you expect them to fund themselves and how much they receive.

AIBU to just expect her to not go and try and find a way to study at home?
Yes.

They can all apply for a maintenance loan, based on household income, and for tuition fees. www.gov.uk/student-finance/new-fulltime-students These are only repayable once earning over £28k, most are never fully repaid. Parents can top up and/or students gets pt or holiday work. Some may be eligible for bursaries or scholarships from uni.

I'm first generation uni in my family. My parents didn't know anything about funding either. They paid for nothing. I took out loans and worked. A lot.

I don't want that for my children so I will help them.

However, they will need to take out loans. DH and I will top up.

How do you think everyone else finds out!? Do some research and find out.

Course fees 10k covered by student loan.

Maintenance loan on your income think 5 k.

You will be expected to provide additional 5k top up a year.

So ball park worst case £500.00 a month from you needed.

It’s a commitment but if you can afford that then give her the choice. My parents stopped me from going to uni after supporting my older sister it was not a nice feeling.

look for cheaper cities with good accommodation for students.

taking a year out so she can work and save would help but always knowing she has the option is important imo.

This is helpful.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loan-parental-contribution-tool/

Its really not that difficult.

As pointed out above most students are entitled to a Tuition Fee Loan regardless how much money mummy and daddy earn or don’t earn to cover the cost of Tuition Fees.

Again all undergraduate students as long as they have no previous study at degree level or equivalent are entitled to a minimum Loan for living costs. If you earn 80K then you would be expected to top this up to at least the minimum loan figure per year approx which is 9K so if studying outside London the government expects parents to top this up by contributing another 5-6 K a year (this would go towards accommodation, food and socialising etc). This should be enough to live off in most instances if the student is sensible and not entitled.

If you are able to contribute more than this that is up to you or if your student has expensive tastes they could consider a part time job also otherwise maybe encourage your student to consider a University with cheaper accommodation costs, choose cheaper Uni accommodation and or get them to save money by budgeting, shopping at cheaper supermarkets Aldi, Lidl, meal planning, cooking for themselves and not going to mad socialising.

Make sure you look at the advice for your part of the UK. England, Scotland and Wales are all slightly different - not sure about NI.
But all the info is out there and easily Accessible.
It's not really your decision though - DC can get jobs to help with top up loans if they want to go.

Ah thank you . I just found it all so confusing and I have looked but just couldn’t get my head around it. So I really appreciate all your help. Thank you for the links and information. I will try and suss it out, but thanks for explaining all you have….

I hate that people are just expected to know this or be able to understand all the complicated systems!

You aren’t expected to just know, a quick google would have been much more educational than a mumsnet post.

Just look it up? There are loads of guides and calculators.

Also ensure you clearly separate living costs from tuition fees in your head.

And don't consider the loans a debt. They aren't. They are a graduate tax.

To be fair a lot of us went to university before student loans and it can come as a shock to parents on higher incomes to discover that their child is only eligible for the minimum maintenance loan and they are expected to top it up by £5k a year. If you haven’t planned for this it can be difficult, particularly if you will at some point have more than one child at university at the same time.

Info is readily available online for students from England... www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

The bit I find confusing is that if DD gets the maintenance loan - does she need to eventually pay it back
if earning over 28k?
and the fees loan, that’s separate to the maintenance loan? - what are the terms to pay that back.
sorry if this is annoying to anyone, I just assumed that if people weren’t wanting to help/ didn’t know how to then They would just actually past, but it seems to be really irritating some people. It’s not that I can’t be bothered , I’m just genuinely confused by it all 🫣

Yes both loans are paid back plus interest if you earn enough

The 60k I was quoting in my original post is because if it all needs paying back, then it is about 60k, regardless of if you pay it back over a lifetime….but it’s promising that you can do this, as it’s far too much money to find !!!

It’s three years of course fees at £9250 plus three years of min maintenance at about £4500. So just over £41k

Plus interest

It doesn't all get paid back for most people. Again google. There is no big secret. Kids pay 9% of their earning above £28k back. Nothing if earning less. Doesn't matter how much loans they take out. Earn £30k - then pay back 9% of £2k a year.