Are they many of you that have persuaded your dc to go to local universities and stay living at home

[EleanorReally]

i am sure i heard this was a thing now, due to expense.

In NI the norm is to go local & live at home (at least for first year). DS was in a v small minority to go across the Irish Sea & after 2 ferries & 700 miles in 2 days to drop him back for 2nd year I can see the attraction of going local, BUT he has matured so much and learned so many life skills last year that he simply would not have done at home, so absolutely right for him...

And in response to pp, maintenance loan does not necessarily cover hall fees - DS is around £120 short per term, plus needs to live (we are the unfortunate middle income so no grant but no spare cash either!!) but has worked his arse off all summer to give him a wee pot, and we just tighten belts and send what we can!

I wish. DS first night 400 miles away😥

We live in London area and DD is starting at London uni. However her uni is on other side of London and her course contact hours are Mon-Fri 8:30am to 6pm. So she has moved into a shared house near her college. No home student savings for us!

We live in London and DS is going to Imperial. It's not exactly our local university (I wish!) but it's an hour away door-to-door by tube. We didn't try to persuade him to go there - it was entirely his decision based on the course and facilities. We have the finances to support him if he'd wanted to live away (and if he wants to get a shared flat later in his course), but it's been his choice. His course is very heavy on contact time so I doubt he'll have any problems filling his time between lectures in the library or computer suite.

Dd2 is starting at our local uni today. When we were looking at unis about a year ago she was very reluctant to consider anywhere. On (gentle) probing it turned out she was anxious about going away. So I suggested we look at the two local unis. One is Russell group, one is a fairly good ex poly. She got offers from both and is going to the RG one. She is now very excited about it. she's not in to partying and already has a broad circle of friends so will just be able to build on to that. Staying at home wouldn't have suited dd1 but they are all different.
We have never discussed money with them so it wasn't a factor in any decisions they made BUT no denying dd2 is saving us a lot staying at home. Dd1 is doing medicine and has three more years. It does seem hard that parental contribution doesn't take that in to account! I had a friend who had three kids at uni at once!

I agree with Northernlurker. It depends a lot on the individual. Not all want, or are comfortable with "the typical University experience". Some of the partying is pretty heavy duty, and if you are in a student flat or hall, it can be difficult to escape.

“We have never discussed money with them so it wasn't a factor in any decisions they made”

I’d love for it not to be a factor, but I have 2 studying and basic on campus accommodation with a shared bathroom (which one would definitely not cope with) is the entire loan they qualify for and working is only an option for one child due to their courses, so we just don’t have the amount they’d need available to cover the rest of their living costs.

We can afford to have them living with us - but obviously them both living elsewhere seperately is a considerable amount more.

So their options were either move out, their loan goes on rent, we’d be able to help a bit but not cover everything or stay at home and they have their loan money.

“We have never discussed money with them so it wasn't a factor in any decisions they made”

Blimey. That’s awful!

Why is it awful? It wasn't dd2s job to worry about my finances. We could have managed and I wanted her to decide on what she wanted not on what she thought we needed. But then we are reasonably financially secure. Were we not, that would be a different story. Dd1 has intercalated on her med degree and asked us if we were ok with that before she decided as it meant an extra year of support.

It's normal in Europe to live near home when going to uni.

Why is it awful that money wasn't a factor in the choice of where to study?

It wasn't a factor when my son chose where to study either, although we did vaguely mention that housing costs would be higher at one of his choices, particularly if he chose to stay there after university and would want to buy, but that had no bearing on his choices.

We are giving him the difference between his loan and the maximum loan and he was told if he chose accommodation with an en-suite that would mean he would have less disposable income, but the choice was his about how he spent the money; funnily enough he chose a shared bathroom flat.

DD will probably need to stay local for health reasons. the problem is that there is two universities. One requires AAA or AAB with EPQ the other one is CCC but takes Ds in clearing. I know she will want to go to the one with the good reputation and has her desired course, but studying for the As will be too much pressure. It is so individual and areas differ so much.

I think uni is much more than just studying it's the chance to be independent, have wild nights out , getting back to the halls together and cooking late night pizzas , exploring a new city. I really don't think coming home after lectures would help with being fully integrated into student life

I agree with this.

People talking about what their dc get for their loan, not even covering the accommodation as is the case for my dd seem to be forgetting that it is expected that families make their money up to the full student loan amount. It isn't perfect and there will be circumstances it just doesn't work, but the point is, your dc gets less because you earn more.

If a student can't afford to live away from home, then they could possably be better (subject dependent) to do a higher level apprenticeship than go to lectures but not have the University experience.

I agree backforgood however, I don't think £34k (pretax) is a large income. In order to make up the loan they receive, £4750, to the maximum available to those from low income households means about £3k per annum. No account is taken for existing commitments or how many DC you may have at uni or indeed just financially dependent. Restrictions on the amount they can borrow from student finance means that they have no access to affordable borrowing if parents struggle.

DH and I were brought up in poverty so had no opportunity to go to Uni from school. We have modest income but have saved and paid off our mortgage so that DSs have every opportunity that we didn't. Not everyone is as fortunate.

“but the point is, your dc gets less because you earn more.”

No, they get less because I live in Scotland... in England my expected contribution would be about 2k a year for each of them (if my maths is right).

That’s why it’s too much, 2k each is do-able, what they’d actually need up here, isn’t.

I did and don't regret it at all! Did a year abroad to get my uni life fix. I was happy to be back home after that.

I think uni is much more than just studying it's the chance to be independent, have wild nights out , getting back to the halls together and cooking late night pizzas , exploring a new city. I really don't think coming home after lectures would help with being fully integrated into student life

It can be. But I can't afford £160 a week for the pleasure of my son cooking pizza at night.

We are not all in the same boat.

DS will stay at home and get the same funding as he would to move away. It makes financial sense from both points of view for him to live at home.

I agree backforgood however, I don't think £34k (pretax) is a large income. In order to make up the loan they receive, £4750, to the maximum available to those from low income households means about £3k per annum.

I can't speak for the other home nations, but in England the cut off for receiving more than the minimum loan is much higher than £34k, around £60k I believe. I'm pretty sure £34k would get you nearer the maximum than the minimum.

In fact at some of the universities my son applied to, bursaries were available to those from families with an income up to £35k.

www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/the-big-fat-guide-to-student-finance-2012.html#60seconds

Scroll down and there is a table that shows an income of £35K means the student could get £7661 away from home not in London.

We have a few years to go but am expecting mine to live at home, at least for the first year. We live in a university town (in Italy) and it is quite common.

I'm in Scotland and the limit is anything over £34k with other limits in between. £4750 isn't a lot and DS is in a shared hall, no catering and no ensuite. The loan only just covers that. We can afford to support him, but on say £35k with maybe two dc in uni, I think that expectation is a bit much. It leaves dc with no other access to reasonable borrowing and means that they have to work and save. I'm not saying it's not doable, but does leave parents with a burden of at least 6k pa if they have 2dc on what is a modest income to start with. Add in that most Scottish courses are at least 4 years then it's even worse.

It's to do with money, just like everything else in life.
I'd you move out your parents usually have to help you out a bit. If they can't afford to your stuffed, or you're working too many hours to accommodate your course.

X post with wax

And apologies for horrendous typos

Part of the table on ArtieFufkinPolymerRecord’s link.