How much cash support for DS/DD at Uni??

[happilyconfused]

A finance person came into school to talking about financial planning and I was amazed at the costs he discussed. Without a car, any travel allowance, holidays or tuition fees he estimated that a student would need £7500 a year to live on. That was for a thirty week year and assumed that the rest would be free board and logdings etc from the parents. £7,500 covered food, logding, books, insurance, PAYG phone and a night out per week.

Parents would have to pay for the laptop, tv, fancy phone, transport etc

No wonder these kids are in so much debt! The housing ladder will not be for them as they will not be able to afford the deposit on their own. Will you support you child at Uni or will you let them sink into debt?

Agree that teenagers expect more these days - even if it's only in terms of standards of accomodation. When I was a student in the 80s my rent in a houseshare was £10 a week but the houses we rented rarely had central heating and never had washing machines, tvs etc. But not all our parents homes had central heating either... I know from talking to friends who have younger siblings, many students nowadays would be appalled to live in the conditions we did as their own homes are so much more comfortable now than 20 years ago.

I will definitely be encouraging my kids to work to help pay their way if the go to uni. As a teenager/young adult I was fiercely independent and would have hated to be a burden on my parents - so many young people these days seem to expect constant handouts and never learn to be financially independent. I don't think it is doing them any favours in the long term.

My DD is in her second year. The first year her loan covered her fees and Halls but nothing else. She worked all day every Saturday and earned £40 a week which was enough to pay for everything else (food, PAYG mobile, travel). (No TV or computer and just a bogstandard phone)

This year she hasn't been able to get a job plus her loan was reduced. She worked last summer but not as much as I expected, and the Christmas and Easter holidays were so short that there wasn't chance to work at all. She is horribly over her overdraft limit and struggling. BUT we don't have any money to bail her out and I'm not convinced it's that hard to get a job these days so I'm not putting myself in more debt to help her. (At the start of the year she "couldn't work Sundays" because she did this, and "couldn't" work on this evening because of that...) If she was really trying and still short I'd help her, but it's a last resort- I don't want her to feel she can buy what she likes (converse trainers at £34.99 when I'm in £10 donnay shoes) because someone else will sort it.

its un fair to assume that we're after hand outs. a lot of my friends at uni have taken on uni as a bridge to independance. it is a learning experience. all of you have said your kids will be getting jobs when they go uni... surely its your kids choice? not yours? maybe your kids won't want the handouts you'll be giving?

ok it's their choice - inasmuch as they can choose huge debt and no job, or small debt, job, and some help from me. entirely their choice.

agree with KTeePee about standards - when I lived in halls I had to go down 2 flights of stairs, outside, across a quad and into another building to get to the nearest loo/shower. Now it's all en suite. My friend in private accom had the loo a bit nearer but used to get ice on her duvet in the winter. (and we ate coal blah blah...)

I am a nursing student. I don't pay fees and get no student loan so my parents are forced to pay my way. I hate it more than I have words for, I find it deeply humiliating that at 21 I have to rely on my parents. I simply cannot make enough money to support myself, I have to work f/t on this course including nights and weekends which makes any regular work impossible.

In my first degree my loan (£3000 per year) did not even cover my accommodation (£2500 in one of the cheapest place to live) and fees (£1500), let alone living costs. For me just to cover those costs it was over 4 months wages on top of it (i worked 24hrs a week as a care assistant and i worked as an au-pair sometimes) and thats not including food, bills, transport. I don't have a car because I can't even afford driving lessons, walk everywhere or get the bus.

Its bloody expensive being a student, you need a computer because all work as to be typed and there are often no computers free at uni around essay handing in time, and many courses are taught online. My nursing course puts all notices online sometimes cancelling a lecture at 10pm the night before. Its not really practical for me to walk for 30 mins in Hull to uni to check every single night if my lecture is still on. My partner who did computer science was expected to have a state of the art computer at home to complete coursework on.
I also frequntly had to pay large chunks of money in one go, most semesters started off with me paying about 1500 in fees/accommodation which meant that my loan was spent before I even had it and I had to find more to top it up with. In the real world people on low incomes rarely suddenly have to find £700.

My phone is 3 yrs old and I need it because I do walk everywhere and often in the dark and in rough areas, we have sky but I don't pay (boyfriend), I never go out, I go home maybe 3-4 times a year which costs me £100 in total. I am currently £1000 over drawn and owe £9000 in student loan. And this is with parental help and as much work as I could cram in. Honestly I don't think there is any way to avoid serious debt as a student.

That sounds really whiny and I would just like to say I love uni and am glad about (both!) my degrees but just get frustrated with people assuming that student debt and money issues are from greed, its not always true. It can be very expensive being a student!

I agree smurfgirl. Student debt and money issues are not from greed. It is expensive being a student now. My daughters student loan would have only just covered her tuition fees and accomadation this year. Taht is why we pay for thes. We put money on an ISA so that we could help our children.

I wanted them to be in the same position I was where my parents paid my maintenance (and there were no fees in those days). I don't want them to have debt when they leave so we have a deal that I pay £100 a week if they don't take out a student loan, plus I pay their rent and university fees. In September the oldest 3 will all be in further education but the sum each costs is still less than their £10k a year school fees so for me in our kind of private school set up it's a saving not a gain. It means students have an unequal time at university depending on parents' earnings which isn't very fair but possibly those who have to work and get into debt appreciate the education more and ultimately benefit more from it.

I was a student nearly 10 years ago and I got into debt because I didn't manage my finances correctly. I signed up for overdrafts and credit cards as they were being thrown at me and went out most nights and bought things i really didn't need to. Students don't need flasy phones or laptops they need a roof over their head, food in their stomachs and the sensibility to recognise why they are there (something I didn't at the time). I worked in the end to cover what I needed as well as got student loans and was lucky to get a partial grant. I would say that there is nothing wrong with maybe agreeing to perhaps purchase the needed books or contribute to accomodation/food but anything else should be matched by earnings. A lesson in budgeting is a good idea as well as the strict no to any credit!!!

That finance person is having you on - or perhaps explaining why students get into so much debt.

If you exclude fees, holidays etc like he sees to have done, then £7500 divided by 30 comes to £250 a week!

My sister-in-law is at uni and I know from when she did her looking around that accommodation costs seem to range from £50-110 a week, depending on the sort of accommodation and whether any food was included - the higher figure was fully catered, so no food costs.

Using those figures, there is no way that accommodation plus food should come to over £110 a week, my sister in law manages on about £80 for everything. So that would leave at least £140 a week from the mythical £250 a week - no student NEEDS that much, many families manage on less after food and housing costs.

As far as supporting my children at uni goes, we will do what we can but expect them to budget carefully too and get holiday jobs. We have saved modest amounts for each child since they were born, so by the time the plans mature at age 21 that should pay off the tuition fees and hopefully some or most of the living costs. We will provide a modest living allowance if we can afford it,and will give free board and lodging in holidays.

If we've managed to contribute more to their uni costs, their investment proceeds are theirs to do what they want with, if not then they have to be used to help repay studentloans etc.

I suppose a figure of 7.5k could be based on:
Fees (for students from this year): £3.5k
Hall fees (fully catered): £4k
Don't forget that if you are renting from a private landlord you will be paying for 52 weeks per year - although you may get a reduced rent for the summer vacation period.

I don't know any private landlords who charge full rent for the summer holidays - it's usually just a retainer, although of course that can vary hugely.

But the main thing is, that man's figures apparently didn't include the tuition fees, so that's £3,500 still unaccounted for according to your figures. And the original poster said he was basing it on a 30-week year, so I'm still at a loss to know where it was all going!

DS paid retainer of 3/4 of normal rent during July and August. The amount asked by landlords for vacation periods does vary but you do have to pay for 52 weeks per year, not 30+ weeks as you can in university accommodation.

DD1 moved into a private dtudent house on 1st September as she had to start paying full rent from then. She paid half rent in July and August.She could have moved in during those months but then would have had to pay full rent from when she moved. The last lot of students moved out in mid June. She now has to pay rent until she moves out Probably next June, but she might stay on depending on circumstances.
Her rent is £240 a month and she is sharing with 4 others. We are paying most of it, but have asked her to pay £40 a month towards it. She is paying her own bills and other living costs.

Cat64, I couldn't agree more.

I get really sick of all these surveys and so-called experts telling us we need thousands of pounds for this and that.

My wedding didn't cost thousands at all.

As far as pensions go, while I think they are very important, for many people post-retirement costs should be much lower.
By the time my husband and I are both about 52, we will have no mortgage and no dependent children so our monthly costs will be miniscule compared to now, even with high energy costs etc.

Back to the student finance thing, I know many students who manage to budget well and come out of university with much less debt than many so-called surveys imply. I don't underestimate the problems of being a student today, but equally like you say a lot of what a student spends is up to them.

My 13 year old is already interested in what meals cost little to make, and is building up a nice repetoire of lentil dishes!

If he said £7,500 and I pay them £10,000 I don't think his £7,500 is out of line actually. Hall fees about £3000 a year which includes usually 2 meals a day, univesrity fees which has been £1000 or so a year until this year, you're already at £4000, then enough each day to buy food, books, go out, travel which we put at £100 a week which I pay weekly so they never get overdrawn and have it in the holidays too £100 a week is only £14 a day.

I agree that the expectations are different

we are a uni town and we have a lot of pubs, independent clothes shops etc which are obviously targeted at students

we used to go to the Oxfam shop

and when I worked at the uni there were loads of students with cars; I knew about 2 when I was at college

we used to live in little flats with breezeblock walls. In the centre of our town are these state-of-the-art new flats which are nicer than my house

I think for me part of being a student was learning to budget and this has been one of the most important lessons I learnt there - far more important than any of the periods of literature I studied

Xenia me and dh have about £100 a week for food, travel, going out etc

and there are four of us

DD is about to start her 2nd year. She has a 2,000 overdraft from the first year hanging over her, despite working virtually full time (2 part time jobs) over all of summer.

We pay her tuition fees of approx 1,200. She needs 800 in rent up front and then 200 a month. We give her 100 a month for coursework materials.

I believe it is more expensive on tuition fees for the ones starting this year. 3,000??

Its a nightmare and reaching the point where university education is only for the rich.

xenia, he didn't include tuition.

Despite the supposed "opening up" of education, the level of fees/debt mean that it is difficult for students from poorer backgrounds (i.e. those who haven't parents who can sub them through university as I do with DS). I know that universities have been developing bursaries for students, but the amounts awarded are tiny compared with the actual costs of going to university.

DD has just finished her second year. She is £11k in debt - student loan. We don't give her any money at all. She earns everyting she needs, and has plenty to spend.

we will pay offf the loan when she finishes, we wanted her to find put how to budget and what it is like to have that amount of debt. It makes her tghink carefully about frittering money.

She also manages hto have 2 or 3 holidays a year. She probably eaned £2000 this summer working. Good girl!

She also manages to earn around £75 a week during term time, that is more than enough and she eats very very well. Lots of fresh veg, meat etc. She plans carefully, I phone up and she is cooking duinner - What are you having darling? Duck breast and green beans!

alibubbles, does your DD get maximum loan? Mine only has £4K a year.