Funding a masters advice

[Yourownpersonaljesus]

DD has a place on a masters starting in September. She has applied for a student loan of £11000 but this nowhere near covers the tuition fees of £26000. She contacted the university on the day she received her offer but applications for bursaries/ grants had closed the day before! They gave her a few people to contact (not connected to the university) which she did but has had no joy. Does anyone have any advice please. Sadly I do not have that kind of money to help her out myself.

Unfortunately there is no easy answer. That is an expensive masters - there’s a lot of variation in fees so some will be fully covered by the loan, others, such as your DD’s, won’t.

She may well need to look at taking a year or two out to earn and save, especially as she will have living costs too. This presumably would also give her chance to apply for future rounds of bursaries?

Why is it so expensive? Most can be covered by the student loan

Would she be able to apply for a place somewhere more affordable?

My MSc fees were covered by the loan and I did it part time so I could work and cover my bills at the same time.

Or could she apply for a 1+3 PhD? Those are funded and come with a stipend.

Thanks for replying @EduCated. Yes it is very expensive. She could live back with me if she went there as it's in London and as we don't live too far she could commute in. She has applied today to the uni she did her undergrad degree at as it is much cheaper. It would be a shame though if she couldn't go to her first choice as it's a much better uni. Seems so unfair that her choices are limited by lack of funds and only people that are well off can accept places there. A year out is a possibility too I guess.

I think it's the university @User0ne. Hi @SuperLoudPoppingAction we're both on another thread! She is planning on working pt through her masters as she has done with her undergrad degree.

Do they give a discount to their own students who continue to masters? Ask if they will give same discount to your DD. DS2 did this and it worked as he got the impression they hadn't filled all their places this year. Your DDs masters is eye wateringly expensive though (DS2s was just £14500 before discount whereas his current uni is £9600 both within commuting distance). I presume it's worth the extra money.

Yes they do @ClerkMaxwell - making it much more affordable. Or do you mean would the London uni give her the discount? She has emailed them but it's impossible to actually speak to anyone atm as most people who work there are currently wfh (or that's what they are saying). She wouldn't be able to live with me if she went to her previous uni though. She has asked if she can complete it online only.

Yes I meant the London uni. DS2 managed to get hold of the course leader and chanced his arm asking for the same discount as they give to their own students. It worked. Only 15% discount but every little helps.

Has she contacted her professional body to see if they have, or know of, any funding fir postgraduate study?

I am a civil engineer. The Institution of Civil Ebgjnerre out my in touch with a civil company that supported one student a year. Probably too late for this coming September, I made contact about 9 months before I planned to start my MSc, and had the funding secured about 5 or 6 months later.

That is very expensive-what is it in?

It's Real Estate, Economics and Finance at LSE @Howshouldibehave.

Definitely worth a try @ClerkMaxwell - good on your DS.
I don't think she has @BikeRunSki - I'll suggest that to her.
Thanks everyone for your really helpful replies.

Seems unusually expensive, £12-14k is more normal for professional/science. Mine cost £6k 2 years ago

I didn't personally find it an impediment to have an MSc from a post-92 uni when looking for a funded PhD.
But I really wanted to study at said post-92 because I liked the course and the lecturers.

And actually the place I'm at now sees me as an asset because of what I learned at the place I did my MSc.

It's rotten how inconsistent the fees are though.

Could she do part time while working? Maybe a real estate, property, finance company might be interested in giving her part time lower level work in the hope she stays with them.

Just remembered when I did my masters they paid me to do weekly undergraduate tutorials in my first degree subject. It was well paid and being the late 80s was poorly attended by students (tutorials not compulsory). Worth asking if that is a possibility (or some other uni job to offset fees)

Interesting, thank you for replying, @Yourownpersonaljesus

Does that qualify you to a particular/well-paid job?

DD is at work atm (in a pub) but I'll pass all of your suggestions on to her tomorrow. Thank you so much. I have no idea @Howshouldibehave - you would hope so wouldn't you? .

Her undergrad degree is in Politics and Economics btw.

Here's a link to the course details @Howshouldibehave. It does sound interesting.
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Graduate/degree-programmes-2021/MSc-Real-Estate-Economics-and-Finance