How much should dd contribute to Uni costs?

[StickyFloor]

We are planning ahead for September 2022 and I’m not sure what is fair?

DD’s loan will not cover her yearly rent so we will pay the approx. £1500 shortfall, that seems obvious. I’ll carry on paying for her phone too and the cost of everything she needs to take with her.

But then I don’t really know what she will need to live on, and how much we should give her towards that.

We don’t have any spare income or savings and I’ll be getting a job to pay for her expenses and to cover the fact I won’t have Carers Allowance coming in when she goes away.

She has some savings but cannot get any work while studying so I’m not sure if it’s fair for her to run those savings down completely. But then isn’t this the kind of thing that savings are for?

Would love to hear other opinions on what is reasonable- we’ve always supported the kids financially in every way and now I don’t know how to gently start sharing financial costs, especially given that she can’t earn for herself.

@PlanDeRaccordement I’m not surprised to hear this unfortunately.

Ah I see I was too slow posting and you have explained that she doesn’t get the full loan, but you don’t think you can afford to top up that amount.

Still be worth talking to the university about funds they have for students with additional needs. She may well be eligible.

@StickyFloor

I have a big problem with the rationale that it’s means tested therefore it’s affordable! It bases the loan on income, not expenditure and commitments so I can assure you this is not in any way affordable for us. I will be getting a job as we will be worse off. But that’s the system we’re stuck with.

Surely you cut back your expenditure if its not affordable? Because its affordable for someone on your income with average expenditure. I struggle with the idea of parents choosing to spend more on themselves and then saying that supporting their children is not affordable!

@StickyFloor

I have a big problem with the rationale that it’s means tested therefore it’s affordable! It bases the loan on income, not expenditure and commitments so I can assure you this is not in any way affordable for us. I will be getting a job as we will be worse off. But that’s the system we’re stuck with.

But why wouldn't you get a job anyway, or do you have other caring responsibilities?

It seems odd to complain about the system if you don't currently have a job at all. Where would the money otherwise come from?

I mean this nicely as I can tell you are very supportive of your DD and it is wonderful that she will be able to go away to university despite her disability.

I don't understand why you resent getting a job to help fund her studies? She won't be at home any more needing your care, so you will have more time for both working and yourself.
The alternative is her living on beans or working on top of her studies just to survive.

It's different if you genuinely can't afford it but it sounds like you might be able to if you were working.

I think it’s strange that means testing only looks at income rather than expenditure - two families on the same income will be in very different situations re affordability depending on their other responsibilities.

I’ve already said I’ll be getting a job anyway as our income will be going down.

I’ve also said that we are planning on funding dd from my new income too, I was canvassing opinion on how much and whether to expect her to contribute.

I have not investigated this website properly and I see there are charges for some services but apparently it is worth a look at bursaries even for those that are not on the full maintenance loan.

https://www.thescholarshiphub.org.uk/plans/

There is also this that may not amount to much but worth a look if you have willing family members? https://www.thescholarshiphub.org.uk/extra-funding-for-university/

@mrsm43s we don’t spend much on ourselves now and when dd is at Uni I’ll be working so that we can break even and support her too.

You did say you're getting a job but you said you were miffed to be doing so.

My DC live off the minimum loan amount and we pay for their accommodation, because we can afford it. They could live off less, I'm sure. They both work in holidays and keep their savings, I don't think they should contribute to university expenses when we can afford to pay them. DC1 has taken less than the full loan this year because she had savings from last year.

Use the UCAS budget calculator to work out likely living expenses and then decide what you can afford to cover.

The upside is that instead of being paid £1-£2/hr carers allowance, you will be making around £10/hr for your 35hrs/week of work!

My DD has managed well on £50 per week. She spends about £20/25 on food - has got really good at finding bargains and has become mostly veggie which has made it cheaper. She's not a big drinker either - if they are party animals they'll need a lot more. She seems happy with the odd night in spoons, and I have sent a few drinks to their table on the app now and then.

She's now in her third year and has got a job to top it up.

@StickyFloor its good to start thinking about this but maybe wait until she has applied for her Maintenance Loan and knows how much she is likely to receive, knows where she is going and the Accommodation costs (if not living at home) before making any hard and fast decisions regarding how much you would be expected to contribute.

Also is she entitled to PIP if not she might be?

Have a look at the Martin Lewis website which has a lot of useful information on. Many students top up their Maintenance Loan with a combination of pt work, savings, money from parents or other family members or benefits if they are entitled i.e. PIP.

@itsraininghere I understand that position - as long as you can afford to then you’ll cover them and let them protect their savings.

At the outset I wondered if that was what everyone would advise, or if there would be more people saying students should contribute as a point of principle.

I still feel like I should make sure I start earning enough money to make sure she doesn’t have to use her savings.

The expectation is that parents make up the difference between the loan received and the maximum loan amount. That is why the loan amount decreases with parental income, otherwise it would be rather unfair on those who do not receive the full loan. The maximum loan amount is intended to be enough to manage on, at least during term time, but not luxuriously, and doesn't really allow for the holidays. If the child wants "luxury" then they will need to chip in by working etc. Of course that level of contribution might be very difficult for some parents depending on their circumstances, especially if they have not planned ahead, so if a child has a significant amount of savings or a high ability to earn during their studies then it may be easier all round if they contribute too. But that is not the expectation.

[quote StickyFloor]@mrsm43s we don’t spend much on ourselves now and when dd is at Uni I’ll be working so that we can break even and support her too.[/quote]
What are your expenses that mean that you cannot afford what other families on your income can afford?

The means testing takes into account average costs for a family. So if you can identify what you are spending more than average on, then that is where you can make cut backs. But, as others have already said, if you are no longer caring for your DD, it makes perfect sense for you to get a job (although your expected contribution will rise as your earnings rise unless you're already at minimum loan).

But, on the whole, its not reasonable to expect your child to make up the "parental contribution" part of the support package, as that is your bill to pay. If they need more, over and above that, then generally they get a job. Your DDs disability does change this so she may choose to use her savings for extra spends or she may be entitled to some disability benefits in her own right. But this should be over and above the full amount that she is entitled to made up of the loan plus your parental contribution in full, not instead of your parental contribution.

Check out the Disabled students' allowance if you haven't already.

With dd who graduated last year and ds who will hopefully start next year we will be making up their loan to the maximum amount. After her rent was paid it meant dd has approx £80 per week to live on (food, travel, clothes, phone, books, toiletries etc).

If she wanted anything more then she had to earn it herself or use her savings. She wasn't able to work much because her course was very intensive in terms of contact hours.

Minimum loan is about £4300 and maximum outside London about £9500 so parents are expected to make up the difference.

As for what you can afford every family differs. I funded the children and still am so they had no loans at all including no tuition fee loan but that is very expensive -post grade fees for this year alone for each of the two are £16k+ (£32k) even before we add on their other costs.

Thanks for those highlighting DSA. We will apply for this to help with some specific disability related needs but this is not used towards any living costs.

So I think there’s pretty universal consensus that a parent is expected to make up the loan to the maximum available at least, so that gives me a good starting point thanks.

Just bear in mind that you may have little or no say in how much your DD's rent will cost. Her uni will have to allocate her an appropriate room, but you may find rent varies wildly.

Sometimes if a specific room to meet a students need due to disability is needed then DSA will pay for the difference in price between that and a standard one.

@Comefromaway that’s really helpful to know, at least we can ask if that’s possible as we will be needing an en-suite accessible room which tends to be more expensive.

We will be paying for a second room for a carer and were told that couldn’t come from DSA but we might get a discount. The rules are really grey on what is and isn’t allowed. We are just adding it to the list of things we might have to cover, just in case we don’t get any help.

Everything hinges on what the DSA assessor recommends. You need to make sure that your dd makes her needs clear.

As an example, this is Sheffield Hallam policy.

www.shu.ac.uk/-/media/home/study-here/accommodation/accommodation/files/disability-related-accommodation-policy.pdf?sc_lang=en&hash=17D3EDEEC599AB95137DB495092622C4

From my dd over the last few years £50 a week is do-able but tight. £75 is nearer where she was last year and I still paid her phone.