Saving for Uni - twins plus one

[hippo99]

So I know it is still a long way off yet as twins are 13 and year 8, and DD is 14, year 10. All 3 of them have said they would like to go to Uni.

As I understand it we will have no additional financial help having more than 1 at Uni at a time...

Can anyone give me an idea of how much Uni fees are likely to be?

I am considering applying for a part time job but need to think of future.

[IHaveBrilloHair]

My Dd wants to go, Scotland so no fees, possibly a home based Uni so no rent but it's up to her to earn/borrow the rest, I can't commit to anything as I can't work (disability), and I'm a lone parent.

[RhodaBull]

Are you allowed to hedge your bets? Ie take loan and then pay it back all in one go/in a few instalments if you land that mega job/win the Lottery?

I was under the impression - I don't know from where - that you had to make a choice beforehand - a bit like a mortgage where if you pay it off before the term you have to pay an early redemption penalty.

[Tripletmumof4]

This is us next year . My eldest is in her final year but plans an MA , my triplets start this Autumn , 1 on a 5 year course . We will be eating baked beans having no holidays and watching the house and cars fall into dilapidated states to make up their means tested loan to the level of a full maintenance loan. We have tried to save a bit but it won't help much especially when the full maintenance loan was recently hiked up 2k without warning .

[EekAndShriek]

EnormousTiger. We all know you are very, very proud of your DC but do you really think it's ok to share details about their private finances on an open forum when you (and they) are so easily identifiable. .

[EnormousTiger]

Crumb/Wexd I've heard of that. Even when fees were £1k when my daughters went they had rich friends who took the loan and stuck it in an ISA for 3 years and then paid it back but the tiny tiny tiny interest you get these days in my view is not worth it in return for having to grapple with the complexity and mistakes of the SLC. On the other hand if there is a chance the child won't earn much (my lawyer daughters are just below and just above £100k now) I agree it may be worth taking the loan.

Actually most people have no choice whatsoever as it is don't go or take the loan so all this talk of parents funding £9k a year fvees, plus rents etc etc is pie in the sky for most ordinary people and is probably irritating to them so I will shut up ()although the bottom line is I never gave up full time work nor took maternity leaves and worked continously for 30 years as a woman which in no small part is the reason the chidlren will graduate debt free).

[Peebles1]

We have 3 currently at uni. They each get £70 a week from us to live on. Minimum loan covers their accommodation, apart from one of them who gets £1,000 extra a year from us as her accommodation is more expensive (halls - it'll go down next year when in student house). They all have PT jobs. Sometimes they don't work during term time and use their overdraft, then work to pay it off in the hols. It's tough! But at least life's a lot cheaper at home during term time.

[Wex]

Crumbs1 we've made them take loans but pay off as soon as they finish

I haven't heard that variation before, it's not necessarily financially sound but I can see the appeal. It hedges your bets until you get a clear idea of what DC might earn.

[Bobochic]

Why anyone thinks that young people should leave education already in debt and that should not be a massive problem is beyond me. Fortunately we put money aside a long time ago to pay for our DCs' HE.

[EnormousTiger]

Also if children live at home there woudl be no rent and do note that Oxbridge say rents are about £3500 whereas Bristol or Durham might be double that so shop around!

[EnormousTiger]

Actually not everyone agrees with Martin Lewis on these points (I don't). In fact he even had to back track I think because the state had said the salary level you would start to pay fees would rise with inflation and then the state decided to breach its promise. Never trust the state an inch.

The loan is basically a 9% extra tax rate -0 a massive sum for young graduates paying rent or mortgages and/or childcare fees and is one of your expenses examined on your bank statements when your mortgage application is looked at and the debt hangs over you. Of course if you intend not to earn much at all or are in a culture where women stay home and have babies and serve men and are female then I can see some reason to get yourself ensnared in the complex trap of the student loan system where they muddle up what you owe and get things wrong....

[Motheroffourdragons]

EekandShriek - the main reason we haven't done so is because my first had the lower tuition fees, and the third had the higher fees and now the fourth will have higher again. My second got her tuition fees paid for her. I couldn't see a way to make it equitable between all of them so have helped nobody out yet.

[EekAndShriek]

For clear information on whether you should pay the fees upfront it's useful to look on Martin Lewis's MoneySavingExpert website. It's pretty clear cut that as things are as they are now you shouldn't pay upfront. This may change though.

We choose to pay for several good reasons as have other Mumsnetters but we are fully aware it's not financially the right thing to do.

[Motheroffourdragons]

Bobo is right - when my children were small, I think it was all free. My youngest will be going this summer and is looking at huge amounts of debt.

Accommodation prices vary enormously depending on where you choose to study. London prices are upward of £7K, but other places can be much lower.

I would agree that it is probably best to earn more now rather than leave them to have a bigger loan.

I also wouldn't really advocate paying upfront for fees, these debts will only be repaid once they are earning above a certain threshold and will be written off after 30 years (I think) if not repaid by then.

[EekAndShriek]

If it makes you feel any better I have had four in Uni for the last two years 😂 The eldest has done a six year course which has dragged things out. The other three are doing four year courses so it's ended up that we have funded 18 years worth of Uni. Luckily the eldest was on the lower fees of £3,000 odd. We've paid their fees and living expenses but they live frugally and work too. We know it's not currently advised that you pay the fees but we have chosen to anyhow. All DC should get well paid jobs so, in theory, would have to pay their loans back in full.

Thankfully two are graduating this year.

The fees and loans keep changing so it's hard to plan ahead.

[Bobochic]

The costs of university education have gone up scarily fast. Parents of today's 18 year olds could not foresee just how much HE was going to cost for each child.

[EnormousTiger]

Crumbs, my gift to the older children at university was in return for them agreeing to take on no debt and particularly no student loan. I even had it is a written agreement with the oldest one - in consideration fo my funding your univesrity tof £ xxx you will not take out a student loan or any other debt....

I also paid them weekly by standing order for their food etc (and paid the student fees and rent direct to the universities) so they could never run out of money.

In terms of advice to the original poster the rules may change by the time you get there but in general if you earn more now you can save more now to pay to the children and that is likely to be more useful than if you deliberately keep your earnings low so that they receive a tiny bit of extra loan direct to themselves. I cannot see a good reason for you to keep your earnings low

Also the system might change by the time they go so best not to bank on anything.

Fees are about £9250 a year which you can borrow (and I choose to fund), rents about £355 to £7500 a year and then food. and other costs on top. I am reckoning on £150k for the twins over 3 years which I will pay. (That is £9250 x 6 = £55000, £7000 x 2 x 3 rent = £42 000 and £150 a week each x 2 x 3 years £46,800 - total £183,800 but the rent is likely to be a bit more and probably a few extras so roughly £150k or £75k per twin. However as you will know most students choose to borrow these sums instead.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

There are two proponents to student finance.

First the fees.
These are currently just over 9k per year.
Every student can obtain a loan for the full amount irrespective of their parents' income.

Second, living expenses.
Accommodation, food, bills, clothes, travel, books etc etc
Students can apply for a loan but it is means tested ( on their parents income).
There is a minimum amount and a maximum amount.
The majority of students receive a loan that does not meet their outgoings and so need to top up; usually by their parents, getting work or both.

Also some universities have some financial assistance schemes. These are independent and individual. Students approach particular universities individually.

[Crumbs1]

Last point - I just remembered we learned the hard way about making them take out loans. Our eldest one we funded fully. Fine no problems. Then the second was on same support package from us but still decided to take out loan to boost income meaning substantial debt thatbwasnt necessary. With others we've made them take loans but pay off as soon as they finish with a 2:1 or above.

[titchy]

All (!) you're likely to need to fund is the difference between their maintenance loan (likely to be just under £4000), whatever they have earned themselves and what they actually need to live off.

So if accommodation is £5,000 and food and entertainment is £250 a month for 10 months, their living costs would be £7,500. If they earn and save £1500, you'd have to find £2000 a year each.

The fees are payable by another loan, again which they take out not you.

[Crumbs1]

Forces is better in terms of career opportunities- very wide range of jobs for all levels of attainment. In past two years son 1 has been given a degree, got a level 5 CIM diploma in management, learnt to fly light aircraft, been to New Zealand, USA, Brazil, Belize, Antarctica, skiing x6 weeks, Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka, India, Spain and Canada. Played an awful lot of rugby too! Seriously better for him than university.

[hippo99]

Thanks everyone- I did think it is the parents that borrowed

This is a headache - why can't it be more straightforward!!

crumbs I think one of mine may go into forces or police. Loves all that

[Crumbs1]

You can't borrow anything. The student is an adult and borrows the money.
It is expensive and likely to get more so.
Fees are currently 9, 600 pa for our daughter. On top of that accommodation is 7, 500 pa. Then we give £100 per week living expenses for activities, lunches socialising and travel. We continue to pay for phone contract and contact lenses. I usually take her clothes shopping when she is home or we are visiting. She uses my husband's card for ball gowns occasionally. As a linguist we'll have to fund a year abroad too.
Lower income students can get additional financial support at moment but that is going. Universities give bursaries and additional support too sometimes for things like high grades at non Russell group universities, IT support grants for dyslexia etc.
On many courses contact hours are low - sometimes only 8-10 hours a week so they can get a part-time job. Sadly this doesn't work if it's a vocational course like medicine or veterinary medicine.

One of my sons became an army officer straight from school so will have his degree paid for whilst earning a good salary. If kids are sporty and like excitement I cannot recommend the forces enough. He's had a brilliant time and at 21 is paid £36k or thereabouts. He gets lots of other benefits too like help to buy a house scheme and extra pay when he is away from base.

[scottishdiem]

You dont borrow really. Its your kids. I think you need to understand that and I am not sure that having twins makes much difference as its about household income, not circumstance (but don't quote me on that).

[boys3]

www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

You can use the student finance calculator to get a view on current maintenance loan for varying incomes - remember also that it is net rather than gross income that is used to calculate how much a DC can get - so if one or both of you are making pension contributions you need to knock this amount off your £55,000 current joint income

Keeping numbers simple so with 5% pension contrib 52,500 joint income entitles a DC for 2017/18 to around £3800 maintenance loan, lets say you go part time and halve your income taking joint to around 42,500 maintenance loan entitlement is around £5100 so £1300 more. Loan amounts will differ if DC living at home or away from home but studying in London.

Going part time from £20k say down to £10k would roughly reduce your annual take home pay by around £7k based on the current tax year.

scottish is spot on though - I fear a spreadsheet may beckon.

and if they have any particular Uni's in mind may be worth getting a feel for accommodation costs - make sure you are sitting down though :) - probably safe to say that by the time any of yours go accommodation costs are highly unlikely to have decreased

[HerRoyalNotness]

It depends on why you want to go part time. Do those reasons override your desire to set aside some savings for your Dc education?

You don't have to answer, just something to mull over yourself. When I'm working we put away a monthly amount for the DC, as due to our life they will be international students most likely. We are also putting away an amount for DHs DD who will be going in 18mths, eek!