Dh going to uni aged 58 - worried about money!

[Meowsmol]

Dh had to stop working 3 years ago due to a disability, FND. He was high up in IT but can't do it as his hands don't work properly anymore.
He now wants to do a psychology degree looking at neurodiversity. he's thinking about some sort of business/ coaching thing.
He called me today to tell me he's been accepted onto the course and they'll help him with student finance.
We have 2 children 1 in last year of college in sept so looking at 2026 uni. She wants to do forensics and biomedical science. So will need a fee loan and maintenance loan.
Ds is starting college in September for a level.
I'm the only one working. Dh gets pip. But I can't see how we can make this happen.
We rent and my dm has recently been diagnosed with dementia and df has mobility issues.
My brain is broken.

I’m not a mind reader, but I think it’s highly unlikely that the majority of people, upon taking out the student loans, think to themselves “I will do everything I can to pay back that £50K before I retire”.

They don’t need to actively think anything….

Do you think they go to university with a £50k debt around their neck to want to stay in a low paid unskilled job, where they get paid the minimum wage?

If the answer is no, then of course they want to better themselves in the hope of earning a higher salary and by default the loan gets paid off the more they earn.

According to the parliamentary library only 27% of the 2022/23 student cohort were expected to repay their loans. I think on this basis many students know they won’t ever repay them, esp if they go into careers such as teaching, nursing, the creative industries etc. At least some, if not most, will be written off - and they know this which is why they tell parent's NOT give them the money but to let them take the loans. People are being disingenuous if they think it all comes back.

But the point is that the state (the tax payer) is not in a financial transaction with students over this - it is not about giving them a loan and getting it back with interest. It is about scaffolding social mobility, having a more educated population, about the impact of high quality post graduate research and its impact on society, and it’s about protecting the arts which are notoriously low paid, yet highly valued in a liberal and progressive society.

People go to university for any number of reasons. To get away from their parents, to have more sex, because they can’t think of anything else to do, because they like learning etc. Wake up.

And doing a job for decades that pays more than NMW doesn’t guarantee you’ll pay off that debt.

I agree with this but in the Op's case her DH isn't really what the Government had in mind?!

I don't think the issue is the money tbh. A degree is all consuming it will take her DH away from contributing to the household. It will be a mental drain on OP if he is beavering away writing and studying for assignments and exams a degree is stressful and they should be supporting their DC to make sure they can make a success of their degrees.

It’s not. Student finance is provided by private lenders. The interest they charge is set at a rate to give them a profit and mitigate unpaid loans. A certain proportion of non payment is baked into their business model. There’s no cost to the taxpayer.

Why would the government advise parents not to help their kids with the cost and encourage them to take out loans instead?

Parents are expected to contribute financially, unless they’re on low wages. They want to know the financial ins and outs of the parents income before they decide what the child is entitled to as far as I know.

Of course some debts will be written off and actively expected to be, like in any business. Students don’t have to be earring 90k to be eligible to pay it back though, it’s repaid in small increments so over 30 years or so, a good whack of it will be paid off. Teachers being the prime example of graduates that will likely pay off a good chunk of it.

Martin Lewis and every single 6th form college advises parents to allow kids to take the loans.

Yes but middle earners are made to pay the difference so we are paying towards those DC whose parents can't afford it.

Of course they go for various reasons but once they reach the threshold (which isn’t that high) they’ll have to start paying it back! Most people want to earn as much as possible because life’s hard and they want to get out of poverty. I think you’re living in the 90’s when it was free!

No you’re not. Your kids are getting the money unless you’re making transfers into random students’ accounts.

Nothing is free, someone has to pay. It’s like insurance, the more people claim the higher it gets for the rest of us. The more peope don’t pay back their loans, the higher the cost for everyone else. (The next generation)

Sure, but even on Plan 5 (people who started from 2023) there'll be loads of people who won't earn enough to ever pay it back - £27K minimum salary assuming they will be working consistently for 40 years. There will also be people who take breaks from work.

Yes he does, but that’s because it’s such a lot of money for parents to pay off in one big chunk, they’d be financially better off keeping it in a high interest account and earning on it.

He says it because some people want to get rid of the ‘debt’ asap, but as he says, it doesn’t need to be paid back in one go as it’s the biggest and best low interest loan to take out. He’s absolutely right

I know but some DC take out loans which we have to top up that are not paid back so we do help keep the education system afloat. I agree,by the way, that we should.

The talk about who pays what is irrelevant to op and is derailing the thread a little. Maybe start a new thread ?

I disagree I think it is relevant. If a middle earner can't afford to pay the extra and their DC cannot afford university without working and OP's DH gets a SL how is that fair?

I was referring to the debate about student loans and thresholds for paying back and taxpayers etc, not op’s situation.

Yes but £27k isn’t a high salary and most people will end up on a lot higher than that. If that’s the threshold they are expected to pay back, it’s actually lower that what I would have expected it to be, given the cost of living and the fact the minimum wage isn’t much lower.

Where is the unfairness? The husband can contribute to the family pot from his loan, OP carries on working, and the daughter can get a job like the vast majority of students do. Seems fine to me.

I think the tone of this thread is really disheartening.

The man has had to retire due to MND. He’s interested in doing a degree that may or may not actually be useful- but not everything in life is a box-ticking exercise of how useful it is.

What is he supposed to do with his life? It’s not hard to understand why he wants to find something new to engage his brain and give him back some of what he lost when he had to stop working.

I get that it presents financial challenges, but they’re far from insurmountable, and it really needs to be looked at in the light of it being an investment in his continued to keep living and keep hold of something closer to normalcy.

Unless it just can’t be done, I think you should try your best to make it happen.

On what basis will the tuition fees be free? Have I missed something?

My friends DP did this though younger but second degree. Ended up running out of money and working as autism support without having finished it.

Given his experience could he look at working as a TA, SEN support or a private tutor specialising in autism and IT and could do modules of psychology via Open Uni alongside this

*Not sure on the exact requirements for this in the UK now.

Because he will get a student loan to cover them which he will likely never pay back.

A second degree is a bit different from what the OPs DH is proposing, as it wouldn't be eligible for student finance.