Student loans - anyone changed their view recently?

[jeanne16]

Following the recent furore over student loans, has anyone changed their view about whether to try to fund their DCs university via a route other than a student loan?

Its a bonkers measure.

Is Adonis behind headlines like this:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4744966/LSE-hands-vice-chancellor-1-7m-deal-four-years.html

At DS' graduation one of his coursemates told me she had been really unhappy in her first year. Not surprising as she was from Hong Kong. Dump an average British 18 year old in HK for three years and a new educational system, and they might well be unhappy. By the third year she was clearly happy enough to opt to stay on for a fourth. The trouble with data is that there can be too many variables.

I dont know if anything came of it, but DS was supposed to be part of a student group recruited to help suggest ways to improve student satisfaction. His sole qualification was that he was around over the summer. He would have been a poor choice because, as a Londoner he was already happy in the city with a supportive friendship group. As long as he enjoyed the course anything else was a bonus.

Perhaps the solution is for the LSE to commandeer the South Bank Beach. Not quite Bournemouth, but almost.

titchy
how many organisations can you name with £200m pa turnover which are led by CEOs on under £150k?
County Councils
tens of thousands of staff
hundreds of thousands of "customers"
hundreds of sites

and none of the Chief Execs of County Councils pay themselves what the Vice Chancellor of Bath Uni thinks she is worth

PS Hampshire County council spend £1m a day on Adult Social care alone - rather dwarfs most universities IMHO

If OXbridge or LSE privatised... what would that mean for a UK student? They would have to find loans/funding outside the conventional student loan system?

(not sure why I ask; DC won't go to Oxbridge or LSE, but kind of curious what the funding structure could possibly be for prospective UK-domicile students)

Ok fair enough re Council CEOs, although Glynis still doesn't earn as much as the highest paid council CEO. And Bath does punch significantly above its weight as a result of her leadership. The average VC salary is less than £200k don't forget.

And yes Adonis is almost certainly to thank for headlines like that.... but he has his own personal reasons.

They would have to find loans/funding outside the conventional student loan system?

They'd have to find the difference between the actual fee charged and the basic £6165 fee anyone can charge.

But lljkk - I am also curious , - and titchy - Given that a great many universities charge £9000 currently through the loan system not £6165 are you saying Gov could loan £6165 and then anything above that is up to the individual student? ( I do appreciate you may very well not be able to answer my question )

Actually - can anyone answer this? I thought the university fees ( when increased ) were meant to be "up to" £9000 depending on costs and merit. Is that right? Or was it a blanket thing. Do any universities charge less? My memory is hazy so sorry if it is a dim question.

Needmore - LSE need to get rights to the South Bank Beach and rent it out for revenue

Yeah, I completely didn't follow titchy's posts, either. I thought full loans were available for each tuition fee but loan amounts were capped for living expenses.... maybe £6165 refers to the living expenses cap?

I was trying to imagine privatised Oxbridge-LSE where students were eligible for no student loans whatsoever via the only relevant govt agency (SLC?)... So how else could a UK domicile student be funded (tuition + living expenses), assuming their parents can't pay upfront.

@Lucysky2017: Since you have no pension, what happens if you get ill and no longer can work? Don't you envision some point in your life when you're very frail? Downsize & cash in your assets, is that your plan to pay carehome fees?

When the £9k loans were introduced the government stupidly thought a market differentiated on price would appear. Obviously the vast majority of institutions did not charge less and fees are about to be £9250.

To charge anything above £6175 (ish) universities have to agree with OFFA to spend money on widening participation etc (Access agreement). If they don't do that their students can't get fee loans above that £6k base fee.

Private universities do not have Access agreements and thus their students cannot get fee loans above £6k.

There is a free market in solicitor LPC (post grad - one year) loans to compare with. I believe the interest rate is 9% and does not accrue until after your year and then you pay interest and capital back. It is unsecured like the student loans (which are 6% interest but a 9% of earnings "tax").

That one year course costs about £15,700 in London not the 9250 universities charge a year although some law firms will fund it.

Thanks Titchy - that is sort of what I had thought - i.e. the original intention is that fees would be more differentiated. But - e.g. the likes of Regent's University ( private) - maximum loan is the £6k ish figure. Thanks for reply.

I have certainly heard through the grapevine on more than one occasion that both Oxford and Cambridge are seriously considering becoming private universities. They believe this will be the only way to protect their international rankings in the coming years.

Can anyone throw some light on whether other universities are also likely to follow suit?

I've N/C for obvious reasons and would really appreciate thoughts / advice.

We have found ourselves in a completely unexpected situation. A very kind relative has today out of the blue offered to pay DS tuition fees. It is apparently a 'gift' they have been planning for a long time.

They are fully aware of all the arguments for and against and the financial implications.

I am completely overwhelmed by the gesture (DS doesn't know yet - he is out celebrating with friends.) it is something i could never ever have done for him.

So a/ would you take it?

B/ DS has obviously already applied for the tuition fees loan - if this goes ahead is he able to still cancel the loan and the fees paid direct to the uni or is it too late?

I'm really sorry if this post is difficult for some people. I realise how unbelievably lucky DS is to be in this position. (Can I just add how proud I am of him - he worked so so hard through some difficult situations and got into his first choice :-))