If you are studying for a Masters or PhD, how are you funding it?

[Machine1234]

£30k for a Masters at Warwick. And that's with an alumni discount 😭.

Student loans don't cover higher degrees and personal loans for that amount is not possible, not to mention repayment would start straight away.

How do people afford it? Is there are specific bank loan/ personal development loan that I've missed?

@Machine1234 all the questions pp are asking are very pertinent. Your nephew really needs to talk to a member of academic staff in his Department for some advice, because to me, it doesn't sound like he knows what he's doing. Or he's fixated on some weird market-priced course. Or got the wrong information.

TBH, I wouldn't expect a 3rd year undergrad to know the best way to go about an MSc - we encourage them to talk to us or come to information sessions.

Hi all, thank you so much for your suggestions. I'm definitely going to have a chat to him about what you've said. Interesting to see some of you have managed to get loans for masters courses. I'll enquire with him a bit more, he's probably investigated some of these avenues but it's worth rechecking.

He graduated with a 2.1 in civil engineering but no longer wants to pursue this field. He's interested in moving into finance or management consulting and so he was considering a Masters related more to these fields. He says Warwick is regarded very highly in these sectors and many of his friends from the uni are staying on to do their masters and some are going to oxbridge to do theirs (where it costs closer to £60k 😱).

Someone asked whether it includes living costs. No, this is it's the fees for the course and that's with an alumni discount applied. Sadly part time work will not earn him this kind of money.

He's applied/applying to the big 4 and a number of investment banks. But he feels disadvantaged without the masters to bring him more in line with their sectors. The offers he's received so far are not from the big names so the graduate salaries are quite low and will leave him in a negative balance at the end of the month if he were to move to London. His friends who live in london can manage on these salaries because they're living expenses are low. He would love to move, it's not about wanting to stay in the south west. It's more about affordability on a starting salary in the city.

He's talked about taking a year to work and save and then apply to University of Bath. The masters course costs much less (around £15k, still an eye watering amount to stump up in a lump sum) and he can live at home.

Thank you all again for your responses. It's really shocking how much some of these courses can cost and how little help there is for bright young people who are not as well off.

He says Warwick is regarded very highly in these sectors and many of his friends from the uni are staying on to do their masters and some are going to oxbridge to do theirs (where it costs closer to £60k)

Erm, is he sure someone's not pulling his leg?

Hmmm. I know someone who is doing a Masters leading to a PhD and is getting their fees paid, plus £16k pa.

He says there is funding for students in STEM subject areas. Should he lump it and just remain in the field of engineering? He says he has no real interest in it anymore. Part of me thinks he should and he may grow to like it.

Why does he actually want to do the Master's?

He needs to do some basic research. Most universities give some info about funding, and he could look it up - that would, at least, help him weed out rumours and hearsay. TBH, if he can't do that now, how he'd get through a postgrad degree, I don't follow.

I work in consulting - I struggle to think of an associate we have recently taken on who has family in London

How has the negative balance been figured out? Is that realistically negative or are expectations about accommodation / spending a bit off (my DF lives in the SW, and he had to accept that money really does not go as far in London, so expectations needed to be adjusted)

In consulting / finance you would likely expect a fairly quick salary change even with smaller companies - perhaps think about having 2 years good experience then moving on versus working for one year, then a masters etc. We have some associates with masters in management but many direct undergrads

Keep in mind if finance is his true goal I know nothing about roles in finance...

LRDthe, yes I was a bit 🤔 too. I'm wondering if it's specific to the courses relating to banking and finance. He's also looked at courses at Imperial and UCL and it's the same story.

I'll be throwing some of these questions at him next time I see him to get a better picture of things. And doing some research myself.

It all might be coming across as ignorant on my part, sorry. It's completely not something I know much about and in the short conversation I've had with him today this is what I've come to understand from him.

Thank you and I'll see what more info I can get from him.

Wow that's a lot of money. I had a look on Warwicks website. For eg....

MSc Finance & Economics
Fees and Funding
Fees
The fee for 2017 entry is £33,500. These fees are the same for both UK and international students.

There is a 25% discount for Alumni and 50% for 'outstanding' applicants. That would be a big saving....

Back in the late 90s when my friends did their MScs they cost £3k

Student loans don't cover higher degrees

There is. It's £10k for a masters. Added to what he's saved, that's plenty to do a comparable course at an RG uni. The finance courses all charge a premium but Warwickshire has gone beserk there. (They're clearly after the international students above all else.)

They do, I mean.

Yeah it's £33500 for the msc in financial mathematics too, I think both courses are "geared at those determined to get into the City and make mega bucks hence the high fees "

I don't think a 2:1 would make an applicant outstanding category, although a 2:1 from Warwick is still obviously hot property on the graduate market!

Just wondering as well, was it the assessment centres he was attending which didn't give him a shot at all the really high paying posts? The paper qualifications might be the red herring iyswim, if he's not doing well enough at assessment centre?

A 2:1 engineering degree from Warwick is not at all shabby - maybe he should just give himself a bit longer to find a graduate job. Spending £25 k on a masters seems a bit excessive.

He's talked about taking a year to work and save and then apply to University of Bath. The masters course costs much less (around £15k, still an eye watering amount to stump up in a lump sum) and he can live at home.

That sounds sensible. But he doesn't need the year out, does he? He could work in the summer or part time. Is he really not able to figure any of this out for himself? How could he not know about postgraduate student loans? He's not being a bit economical on what he's telling family for some reason, is he?

He's not actually "disadvantaged" for the big 4 scheme s either.

Teddy, he seems to do really well at the assessments and interviews and managed to get quite far down the road with one of the investment banks. He went on a two week residential/internship thing only to find out that particular bank was in a period of crisis and so the number of graduates they took on for this year had been slashed significantly.

machine, I did look at those specific courses.

I suggest he looks too.

Lions, yes I think he is rushing things a bit and needs to give himself a bit of time to apply for jobs more calmly now that exams are out of the way.

He did have a lot of rich international students on his course and I do think this is clouding his judgement quite a bit.

That sound a really promising that he got so far along with the interviews and assessments - it's impressive!

D's is about to start a Masters in a similar subject (econometrics) and yes fees are high though not quite as high as the ones quoted. He also had to decide whether to opt for a 10 month more expensive course in London (including a compulsory summer school) or a two year course at Oxford. The scope to live at home in London helped tip the balance.

I would ask why your son wants to take the course. It sounds as if he wants to use it to convert from engineering to finance. In the same way as he might take a law conversion course. Not my field but even if starting salaries are higher for those with finance masters, they may not be higher than say engineering grads with a couple of years finance experience. (Especially after discounting the cost of the course.)

DS would love to work in economic research ideally in the public sector. So no prospect of a vast banking salary and a hugely competitive field. He therefore wants to keep the door open for a PhD. He suggests:

1. Reputable PhD offers will essentially include funding via a teaching package.

1. It is worth researching the status/reputation of any institution/course from the perspective of recruitment for the next stage. Reputations vary and international employers particularly can lay more emphasis on 'the school' than we might be used to in Britain. (But perhaps less obsessed about Oxbridge😁) For further academic study, grades matter.

1. Expect to work very hard. I hear this is true for many highly ranked Masters in sciences as well as finance/economics but certainly at the LSE it is suggested that Masters students arrive, register, enter the library and are not seen again until final exams. Well regarded, yes. Fun, no. DS has been warned that even making more than a couple of PhD applications during the year might be too much of a distraction and has decided to take a gap year after for job search/applications. His expectation is that he can pick up some teaching/research assistantship work during that year.

1. If there were time there would, potentially be a lot of work out there from first year students struggling with their compulsory maths courses and willing to pay for tutors. Or research assistantship work. But given how short the course is and how much it costs, it would not be worth it.

Some Universities can offer funding. Often richer places like Oxford, though inevitably there is a lot of competition.

Is he only being offered internships in London, or actual jobs with a wage?

If internships, I agree, this is usually a route for those with free living/parental support.

If it's a low paid foot in the door, he should definitely think about taking it -surely that's cheaper than £33,000 for a year, even if parents subsidised him a bit. He can get a house share and live off baked beans, it's not undoable.

I wouldn't encourage him to go for a 1 + 3 which is a funded Masters plus a PhD unless he actually wants to become an academic in that area, or is very very sure he will like the subject. Quant PhDs tend to do very well in the City, but it depends how good he is at maths. If he wants to go this route he would need excellent UG quals (like a first) plus apply all over the country (jobs.ac.uk is the place to look as someone else said).

It's a little upsetting for students to come out of UG uni and find the playing field still isn't level, and those with money/properties/live for free, can do internships all are advantaged- he'll have to box clever in the current climate, but I don't think doing that Masters at Warwick is the be all and end all, he should look for a finance Masters at around £10 grand if such a thing can be had, and finance it through the student loan system. Or has he looked in Europe, although the Masters are still quite expensive, there may be options there which are still cheaper than Warwick/living costs cheaper.

Or, based in the SW you have Plymouth, Bristol, Bath, Exeter plus Cardiff and the Welsh unis for a commutable Masters if you wouldn't mind him living with you (you may!) Many Masters courses are structured so students don't have to come in every day but do intensive blocks of teaching.

I just looked up our Masters in Finance at the uni I teach at, it's £12,000 which is standard for a Masters- with a loan, that's only £2000 to find and he could live with you!

Your nephew needs to slooow down and do some actual research. It would also be beneficial for him to work, perhaps in the field he's trained for. Then he comes to further study with some experience behind him.

The Warwick course is obviously priced at a market premium for international students. There are other masters courses which are not but will probably give him what he needs.

But I don't think he knows what he wants or needs. I think he needs to take a break from study, work in his field, and then make the move to finance. But iif he's doing it for the fabled high salaries he'll be disappointed.

And working in London will be necessary unless he looks north: Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh.

I took out a career development loan but my fees were nowhere near that.