Does a PHD student pay the student loan back ?

[GeneLovesJezebel]

DD is getting very irritated if I ask any questions, so I’ll ask here instead !
She getting paid while doing the PHD, so will she have to pay the loan back, does she pay tax/NI on it ?

Is she getting paid or is it a loan?

I got paid to do mine, so didn't have to pay it back.

Paid. The loan I’m asking about is the student loan for the degree and masters.

When I did my PhD, the money I was paid to do it counted as a studentship and not as salary. This means I did not pay tax, NI, nor student loan repayments out of it. I didn't start replaying my student loan until I got a salaried job after I had finished my PhD.

Does that help?

Usually a PhD stipend is untaxed and you don't pay your student loan back while you're getting the stipend - so that's not an expense you have to consider, but obviously it is accruing interest in that time.

Do you mean pay her undergrad loans back while doing the phD?

PhD “payment” is usually a stipend rather than a wage. You aren’t an employee. In which case it is tax and NI free.

Student loan repayments are income linked. PhD stipends, while reasonable, don’t usually hit the income level to trigger repayments.

That’s great, thanks.

Surely PhD stipends aren't at a level where student loan repayments would kick in anyway? DD2 is currently applying and most of the stipends for fully funded PhDs are of the order of £15-20K.

She is saying 25K.

I'm on the payroll as well as getting a stipend (associate lecturer) and I don't seem to be able to earn enough per month on the 6 hours a week I'm allowed to work for the repayment threshold to kick in.
So far, anyway.

You need to know whether she has a salary ie is paying tax and NI - in which case yes she'll be making loan repayments if her salary is above the repayment threshold (£27k for UG loan and £21k for PG loan), or whether she is getting a tax and NI free stipend in which case no she won't.

Highly unlikely unless it is a Research Assistantship, which it probably is if she is getting paid for it. In that case yes I'm afraid it counts as a salary rather than a stipend and will be subject to student loan repayments as well as tax and NI.

@thing47

Highly unlikely unless it is a Research Assistantship, which it probably is if she is getting paid for it. In that case yes I'm afraid it counts as a salary rather than a stipend and will be subject to student loan repayments as well as tax and NI.

But at £25K, only repayments for the postgraduate loan will be taken (6% of salary above the threshold), which is some relief.

OP, presumably your DD herself has been given the details re the funding / salary issue and is just choosing not to share that information with you?

Also, it's not like you will be held responsible for the loan repayments if she should be making them and somehow manages not to, so I woukd just leave her to get on with it, personally.

Can you find out from her whether she is being paid as a salary or a stipend?

@erinaceus

Can you find out from her whether she is being paid as a salary or a stipend?

I will ask. I’ve never heard of a stipend so assumed it was a wage.

DD's is a stipend worth around £20k. She earns a bit from teaching & lab demonstrations. but not enough for tax/NIC. Her student loan is massive & still going up due to the interest. She is not remotely bothered.

Agree with Malbec.

DS was offered a stipend, plus some guaranteed teaching. The stipend would have been tax free, but the TA work would have been income therefore taxable. However it would have been below tax, and presumably student loan repayments.

DH worked out that because of the taxfree element, DS’ take home income was actually the equivalent of a £40,000 salary. Not shabby.

In the US he gets a higher stipend but it includes a requirement to do some unpaid teaching or research assistant work. Overall the British offer was more generous. (And he could have lived at home….there again not living at home probably increased the attractiveness of the US offer!)