Parents funding all uni fees

[ImagoLuna]

Can those of you who have funded/intend to fund your DCs through uni, so they don't need to take out loans, tell me if you have any regrets in this decision? What's the range of total annual costs (cheapest to most expensive) for students - tuition fees/accommodation and maintenance for different unis? How did you manage this financially?

I have friends telling me I'm stupid even to think about this and that DCs should take out student loans which they'll 'never have to pay back' - but given our DCs presumably aspire to earnings above the limit to pay back loans, surely many of them will be paying back loans for many years to come?

I'd rather my DCs leave uni debt free but this will have a significant impact on my own life and my future finances too. A price worth paying - or an unnecessary burden?

Central London is not "normal" in a UK context, which is why I was suggesting that there would be different drivers. I suspect London kids do not automatically expect to own a property, and would love to leave University debt free, and without deductions from their income. I also expect that Central London nurses and teachers (to name two graduate professions) earn significantly more in London yet probably have a lower standard of living than their peers elsewhere. There is no London weighting on the level at which you start repaying loans, so repayment costs can be expected to dig more deeply into living standards.

And yes, I think the plumber I use probably does earn £200k. He is bright and very able and deliberately chose not to go to University.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/5496089/london-plumber-210k-a-year-pimlico-stephen-fry/

His firm have a good apprenticeship scheme and places are very sought after.

At some level going to University is an investment decision, whether for an individual, family or society. I would not advise someone with aspirations to become a care assistant to do a degree, but instead seek a good employer who is willing to fund shorter courses in specific skills. Even if loans are not repaid at all, there will be three years without income. Better to gain the experience and maturity and if at a later stage your career path is thwarted by a lack of a degree, take the loan then.

And for many going to University will be a good investment. So better to do it using family finance than effectively subsidise others via a state scheme which is aiming to break even.

Central London nurses and teachers (to name two graduate professions) earn significantly more in London
Nope.
Teacher pay scales do not separate central and outer London.

Your plumber makes a fortune working in Kensington
do you think he is normal of London plumbers?

PLEASE step outside the bubble and see the damage being done by such Edwardian attitudes

To be fair, it's not really a choice to pay PART of their costs - the amount of maintenance loan they can borrow will be calculated according to parents income, so you have to top that up, or they have to earn it.

Considering that:

• nobody anticipated the government would sell the student debt, which resulted in...

-....the current interest rate for student loans being raised to 6%, which is twice as much as the interest I pay for my mortgage.

I cannot trust the government to keep these loans affordable or re payments reasonable so, if I had the money I would avoid putting all my eggs in the same basket or out of it: borrow 50% of the loan entitlement, use 50% of the parents contribution to pay for the other half of university expenses, save the rest to help them put a deposit for a house in the future.

notsure
But if you put on your mortgage, you are liable for that debt till you die
even if your kid stays in research and never earns

but if its a student loan, you (and they) pay nothing

In a sense the interest is a red herring unless you are a very high earner

"Nope.
Teacher pay scales do not separate central and outer London."

But London teachers DO get London weighting. So earn more to reflect the additional cost of living , so effectively start paying back loans earlier. Hence my argument that there is a different decision to be made.

I certainly do not live in Kensington. Public sector workers can no longer afford to do so. And indeed nor does my plumber who is working long hours in a skilled profession in order to afford to buy somewhere. I want my DC, should they want, to be able to live in the town that I, my father, my grandfather and great grandfather (and quite probably more) grew up in. So paying fees take priority over a car or home improvements.

And FWIW I think my plumber has as much right to earn a top wage as many City bankers and laywers I have met. His hourly rate is less than that of my mother's, rather uninspiring, provincial solicitor.

London weighting is not huge - the actual difference in pay back for a teacher starting (from next year above 25000) wouldn't be significant.

but if its a student loan, you (and they) pay nothing

For how long? It is not the 1990s, people do not seem to realise how much things have changed over the last 5 years. I don’t trust at all that student debt will remain affordable in the long term.

I think you will need to top up your DC's income, unless they choose to go to a very cheap uni. The maintenance loan is max about £8k outside London and if you've been paying school fees up to now I would assume your income will mean they won't get that much.
Any money you can have spare would be better invested in your pension.

There is no such a thing as a cheapy uni. The bad ones and the good ones are very likely to cost exactly the same.

I think it's a personal preference as well, and as a PP says above, you don't know how the rules will change.

I also understand from threads on here that it is hassle if your loan gets sold on, and indeed, a friend's daughter has had problems with this.

Another solution might be for employers to pick up the fees for a return of service on graduation, so for HM Forces, doctors, dentists etc. I don't see why larger firms don't do this, or pay the tuition loan at least on employing a grad for the promise of a return of service.

scaryteacher some large employers do offer to pick up the fees in return for a guaranteed job after graduation - for example PwC does this for accountancy.

I expect others do as well. I think the Army has a similar programme for some subjects.

Extinct I know the Navy does it and has done for decades, as dh was funded by the RN back in the 70s. (HM Forces consists of 3 Armed Forces, of which the Army is just one. I get ticked off when everyone automatically jumps to Army when they see the word military. The RN is the Senior Service as it predates the other two).

My nephew has been offered the opportunity to be funded through university by the RN in a few years time.

Yes, i believe the Army does it as well (or used to) and the RAF also used to as a friend of mine went through it.

I do know the difference between the 3 armed forces

Extinct You would be amazed at the amount of people who don't know there are three Armed Forces. I was once asked which branch of the Army the Navy was!

I expect both DC to earn more than £28,000pa. Most people do

they really, really don't.

Maybe that's so scaryteacher but it's no reason to make a patronising assumption about a complete stranger on an online forum.

I think it's daft...a lot of students drop out. It's dead money in that case.

I could have easily paid my DCs fees for all three years and did so in first year with the proviso they earned enough for living costs (I had already bought them a house each, which they rented to friends). But DS1 had bright idea of taking out maintenance loan for partying then the otherss followed suit so I stopped forking out. Worst of all worlds. I unnecessarily chucked £27000 at them which could have been added to loans which will never be repaid (because one is now nursing, one doing a PhD and the other working in charity sector.) At least I have saved the dear Government £27,000. Hateful system.

Sorry i didn’t mean a cheap uni, so much as a cheap town. My uni shortlist included Edinburgh, Sussex, Aston and Bradford. There were considerable differences in the cost of rent.

I really really wouldn't overstretch yourself to do this. Imagine if one of your children developed a long term illness or disability or died and left dependent children or became a single parent. It's not nice to think about but these things do happen and 60k would be much more useful to them in a whole range of circumstances than not having a student debt would be.

Dd1 has taken her full entitlement of loans, for fees and the small amount she can borrow for maintenance. Her course is the type that will make her very employable, but there are many uncertainties over a 30-year period. Also, the loan is based on what you earn, not how much you borrow, so is arguably more like a tax. We pay her rent, which over a potentially five-year course at St Andrews is eye-watering enough already.

Extinct Hardly patronising, just pointing it out. You didn't say HM Forces, you said Army, which is just one of the three, and the norm for those who lump all of HM Forces under the heading of the Army, which is incorrect, and very frustrating for those who serve.

scaryteacher it's just shorthand, it's not a big deal (ex army here).