how much does it cost to send a child to university?

[ratclare]

starting to panic slightly as son will be 18 in 5 years time and havent saved a penny yet ,what are the costs of sending a child to uni ,my parents reckon it cost them about £30,000 to send my brother

RustyBear's - I'm laughing with you! I've just had a discussion with my boss about how much we are paying for our children at university - we are shelling out thousands each year so that they come out with no more debt than their student loans.

also, some jobs which demand a degree will repay part of the loan if you stay in the job, e.g. teaching a core subject. as the average graduate earns more than £400,000 over their working life than the average non-graduate, then a debt of £20,000 is minimal, and yes, there is housing to worry about, but that counts even more so for epople on lower incomes who may neve manage to gain promotions in later life.

I think what laura meant is that parents do not need to pay out for their children to go to university it is possible to go and take loans and work through which is what most students do

so it is not necesssary to anticipate university as costing the parents money it is the students responsibility although if they come from a low income background paradoxically they can get a grant (but it comes off the potential loan)

some parents do choose to pay out though

Some firms in the US now offer a form of indentured servitude in which they will settle a percentage or all of a student's debt (usually an advanced degree from an Ivy League institution) in return for a contracted period of service.

Of course, the employee is renumerated for his/her service, but the employer has them by the balls for the contracted time, so they expect loads of work and overtime.

Still, I know of at least one person (my ex's brother) was able to pay off a Harvard MBA in three years using this method, so it does work.

dh got sponsored through uni ( AND a full grant, back in the day), but they realised there was nothing legally binding about the contract, so said thanks a lot for the lovely money & industry experience, but i won't be working for you! jammy git.

Well I know things are more expensive now but I cost my parents very little when I was at University. Had a grant to cover tuition fees and worked at weekends and during holidays to pay for my living expenses.

I think one of the problems today is that teenagers (and maybe their parents) are not prepared to compromise on lifestyle anymore. We lived in shared rented accomodation, which did not have washing machines, etc and in fact often did not have proper heating. Most kids coming from even modestly comfortable homes would probably balk at some of the places we lived! We walked or cycled everywhere as we could rarely even afford the bus. We took it in turns to cook cherap meals for the whole household. We did manage to have a good social life though.....

When I moved to the UK as a graduate I was shocked that other graduates I knew who had gone to Uni in the UK had huge debts leaving - this was in the days of proper grants - basically because they had done things like run a car while they were there....

can't resist getting out the violins. when i went to uni i lived significantly BELOW the poverty line! worked long hours on top of my degree, lived in a house with damp and NO heating, phone, tv or even radio!
only went to night culbs on their free nights & drank water or had some homebrew before goin out, and in winter didn't take a coat so i didn't have to pay for the cloakroom. the food i ate was rank, cheap leftovers from the market.
AND i had reasonably well off parents, who simply refused to give me money so i could learn to look after myself. in spit of all that, i seem to remember enjoying it all. clothes were provided via christmas & brithday presents.
at that age you're young & healthy & should be able to put up with it - it's only for a few years, and all your mates are having a laugh