To think student funding is in crisis and yet another area this government just can’t be bothered to fix.

[Fr00tL00ps]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-67206767

To get access to full loans your family needs to earn under £25k. In this climate many families above can’t afford to top up and fund now sky high rental fees and utilities as they’re paying for rises in their own. There is now a two tier uni experience with the children of those under £25k and richer families able to top up able to attend uni full time and eat.

Why is it ok for for young people to live in poverty just because they’re students ? Also why is parental income taken into account for an 18 year old at uni living away from home but not for an 18 year old living at home receiving Universal Credit?

Lots of people post 1990 chose courses specifically that paid their fees/bursary as they were not entitled to any kind of maintenance loan so had to work throughout. It's not a before and after.

Students have always had to live extremely frugally there's no doubt about that. It's normal to work a few hours a week and during holidays to supplement income but not more than that. They should not be leaving uni tens of thousands in debt.

I think there should be far less university admissions and and more modern apprenticeship type learning. That way you also get a salary and real life work experience.

Because it’s a loan to an adult, a loan on which interest is payable. That adult will possibility still be paying back that loan into their 40s. At what age does it become ok not to look at parental finances? Should a 35 year old be restricted in the amount they can borrow to buy a house because they have wealthy parents?

I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Even taking the new Plan 5 structure, the repayments begin once you earn £25,000.00 (if you want to check Martin Lewis’ website, it’s clearly stated) again, not exactly a fortune - though yes it does increase incrementally based on earnings increasing . And that plan runs for 40 years. So, on £25k you will repay, effectively an additional 9%
‘tax’ over and above whatever your tax bracket is. Going forward, on this new scheme (and assuming the loan repayment system isn’t overhauled again) more than half of students will fully repay their loan over most of their working life. Not a bad return for the ‘taxpayer’ considering they footed the bill for everyone’s higher education prior to 1998.

Here you go. He explains here

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_rAsMuAlM

And yet you have countless other threads on here claiming that 18 year olds are still kids. Yet they are adults when it suits middle income earners it appears.

That's to say nothing of disabled kids, many of whom aspire to uni but have a mental/emotional age of far younger than their actual age. Their parents are already expected to provide care well past the age of 18 with no financial support from the state as it falls off a cliff at that age.

It's not black and white. Many views are clouded by privilege.

I agree it is unfair, my education was free at a time when far fewer people went to university, but still I don't think money should be a barrier to education. I would say to people with children looking to do STEM subjects that their are apprenticeships available in these subjects and that they are worth doing where you study for your degree and work at the same time. Often it seems like the most industrious students go straight to university and then the apprenticeships are seen as a half hearted option for kids who didn't know what they wanted to do or failed to get in to university and there is a big drop out rate because it wasn't ever what these young people really wanted.

They are a great option though and well worth looking into to see what is available for your child if they know they want to do it and shouldn't be seen as a second best option.

Because its not a level playing field and some 18 year olds have benefitted and will benefit from their circumstances far more than others.

Many students may wish to study but be unable to work alongside uni or indeed struggle to find employment after. It's only right and proper that the poor get the most support.

I live in a different European country and can second this. My daughter is at uni and still lives at home even though she has to travel an hour to get there by public transport (car not an option as parking is too expensive and trains etc are free for her). She also works a day in the week. Will she miss out on the partying and student life? Yes. But she will be debt free once done.

This is normal here: universities and colleges don't provide accommodation, you either rent a room or you stay home with your parents. As rooms are expensive and hard to come by, majority of students stay with their parents and chose an university based on travel time.

This is also possible because here there is nothing like selections, offers etc. except for medicine and similar. Easier to chose and get into a uni near you

I still can’t understand the logic of denying a student full access to a loan (a fully repayable loan at a commercial rate of interest). How is giving all students the same access to a loan going to harm poorer students? A higher earning family doesn’t necessarily have higher spare cash to use to help their children. Some parents might be unwilling to help their children.

Honestly you have no idea what you're talking about and have fallen for the culture wars gov attack on degrees.

Media studies is one of the most critical areas we need more of - the creative industries are bigger than aerospace, life sciences and automatives COMBINED.

Because there's no money. Fees don't cover the cost of tuition. Universities lose £2500 for every home student they recruit.

Yes, I don’t need an explanation, I understand the system.

I’m just unsure what you personally meant in your first post? Are you saying that most people don’t pay it back? Or most people don’t pay all of it back? Or that the repayments don’t start until you’re earning a lot of money? Just asking for a clarification of your point.

It’s not that the government ‘can’t be bothered’ to fix student finance. It’s just not a priority for them because students don’t vote Tory. That’s not going to change, whatever the government do, so they ignore students and look after the people who do vote for them ; pensioners and higher earners.

That’s how politics works, and it’s naive to think otherwise.

Which is another worrying issue. The number of higher education institutions in serious financial trouble is dire. If some go by the wayside, then home students will find competing with more lucrative foreign students difficult and may face increased costs in the very near future.

Student fees have been a disgrace for many years. This entire country has been bankrupted by landlords.

It’s not my view it’s from ML. He explains it well. Rather than try to summarise here, it’s easier just for people to watch

You’ll have to do that to get the exact wording.

So what is Labour proposing?

I earn 23k I come out with £1500 a month and out of that I give my dd at Uni £275 a month. Hoping this might go down if she can find a job. DH earns a bit more than me and gives £300 a month to DS at Uni as his accomodation costs are a bit more ! It's crippling !

YANBU

Universities are no longer for everybody who is academic enough. It's for the rich or the poor.

We are not rich but earn well enough to be comfortable, with no inheritance, no social benefits, no holidays, cheap cars, and a mortgage. We don't earn enough to support another person living outside our home.

Our teens are doing 6th form and college, they are expected to find some minmum wage job / apprenticeship when finished their courses.

I am driving a citreon C1 that's 14 years old, have not had a foreign holiday for years and trying to work out ho we can live cheaply. I didn't expect really to be living like this after almost 40 years of working. Only another three years of it and hopefully might get a little easier next year as dd starting a Nursing course and hopefully will get a bursary !

I have attached year oldin his 2nd year. Lives on the student village not in a accommodation belonging to the uni so doesn't get things like en suite bathroom . But it's cheaper. He's had a p/t job at McDonald's since Nov 2020 since he was 17. Was at college not school A levels so not in there 5 days a week. Worked f/t in holidays before and during 1st year uni. This last summer he worked few a few weeks then went and taught English in Europe. Now he works Fri and Sat at a local ,( to uni) nightclub . Still go McDonald's for holiday time.

You think riff raff only comes in the form of a poor student? Lol. You need a reality check or a visit to Durham.

Whether others consider their 18 year old an adult or not is irrelevant. They are legally an adult. It still makes no sense to tie access to higher education to a household income when there is no obligation on the parent to make the ‘parental contribution’. We have three children in University at the moment, two DDs in the U.K. and a DSD studying abroad. We contribute a large amount each month to enable them to do so. Two can, and do work, although their earnings wouldn’t be a substitute for our contribution. The other can’t work because of the course. Good for us. And them. But what if I could afford it but refused? That means tough, no higher education for you DD? And plenty of people do not support their children after 18. My mother wouldn’t have spat on me if I was on fire. Why should that have influenced my chances of bettering myself?

Many views are clouded by privilege
And many by prejudice.