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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

How on earth can anyone afford a masters?

55 replies

sergeantmajor · 10/05/2022 17:24

DS is an undergrad, considering doing a masters as it is needed for his most likely career path. I just looked up the tuition fees: £20-£30k for one year! I had assumed it would be comparable to an extra year of undergraduate fees which he could probably fund via part time work, rather than effectively doubling his student debt. It seems that there are various funding awards to apply for but I don't know how realistic it is to expect someone to swoop in to fund him. How do people do it?

OP posts:
jamoncrumpets · 10/05/2022 17:25

When I graduated from my BA you couldn't even get loans for Masters. I believe you can now.

BeautifulBirds · 10/05/2022 17:25

I'm doing a masters, part time remotely, modules are approx £500 each. Loan is approx 11k over the 3 yrs.

ElbowsandArses · 10/05/2022 17:25

I was funded. For me it was an easy decision: if I got the funding I went, if I didn't get it, then I didn't. I put A LOT of effort into my funding application.

titchy · 10/05/2022 17:28

That's very expensive - the majority of Masters course fees are pegged at the level of the Masters loan - so £12k.

JollyWilloughby · 10/05/2022 17:29

Well firstly they do not all cost as much as that. My masters that I have enrolled onto at Warwick is covered by the postgrad loan (11k..ish).

mudgetastic · 10/05/2022 17:33

Can he switch to a combined 4 year version of his course - so you come out with a single master's degree/ no batchelors -many unis offer this

Caminante · 10/05/2022 17:42

That sounds more like international fees, is that definitely right?

LemonSwan · 10/05/2022 17:44

I did a combined Bachelors and Masters so it is included in the undergrad student loan.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 10/05/2022 17:48

We'll continue paying ds's rent, he'll get a job and he'll borrow the rest.

Chaoslatte · 10/05/2022 17:51

Is it LSE by any chance? Their masters are extortionate. I did mine at Oxbridge, the fees were circa the postgrad loan and then I secretly got a job (discouraged at Oxbridge) and also got some partial funding from my college. Most of my contemporaries got some money from the college or university some way or another.

Lostmylogindeets · 10/05/2022 17:52

ElbowsandArses · 10/05/2022 17:25

I was funded. For me it was an easy decision: if I got the funding I went, if I didn't get it, then I didn't. I put A LOT of effort into my funding application.

Same here. I came from a council estate, there was no money for living let alone education. I was determined not to get into extra debt so I put effort into finding funded courses. Luckily one accepted me. Have a look at "Erasmus Mundus" Masters. Best two years of my life travelling and studying and I didn't pay a penny.

pumpkinpie01 · 10/05/2022 17:52

That's a lot , my ds's was £12k. He would have been moving to Manchester to do it but covid stopped that . But he planned to get a loan/work/get a sponsor to pay for his living costs .

Makinglists · 10/05/2022 17:56

I've just got a place to do masters and the fees are just under 9k. My uni give an alumni discount on that of 20% so will be around 7k. I can get a loan for around 12k. Seems very expensive - has he got the right information?

Inthesameboatatmo · 10/05/2022 17:59

That's more than I've ever heard for any masters. What subject ? . I would personally look elsewhere no way would anyone even think that's a normal amount.

GlisteningGoldGrasses · 10/05/2022 18:02

Like a pp I made sure I got funded, I didn't intend to do it if I didn't. I did mine as a 1+3 MSc and PhD the whole thing was funded and I was paid a very reasonable stipend that covered all living expenses. Jobs.ac.uk is a really good site to search for places to apply for and lots of advice on how to get funded too.

noborisno · 10/05/2022 18:24

There's a few courses that will provide a free of charge masters. My law degree did. Husband's OU degree does too.

SynchOrSwim · 10/05/2022 18:26

That does sound like the overseas fees. Masters where I work start at about £7k. MBA is the only one anywhere near the amount you've stated.

As a PP said you can often get an alumni discount where you did your bachelor degree plus a master's loan. Working at a university I get 50% off the fees too.

GalactatingGoddess · 10/05/2022 18:31

My masters will cost around £10,000 - but I'm hoping to seek a scholarship if it's still around in the next year or so so maybe £5000

GalactatingGoddess · 10/05/2022 18:31

The rest will be funded via loan!

Dogsandbabies · 10/05/2022 18:36

He needs to look for a funded studentship. That is what I did. And it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Peaseblossum22 · 10/05/2022 18:41

I finished my masters about 3 years ago , full time it was about £7000, what subject is it ?

thing47 · 10/05/2022 18:41

JollyWilloughby · 10/05/2022 17:29

Well firstly they do not all cost as much as that. My masters that I have enrolled onto at Warwick is covered by the postgrad loan (11k..ish).

DD2 did a Masters in London last year and it was about the same costs as @JollyWilloughby says. She got a loan to cover it.

A couple of words or warning, though. She intended to work part-time and quickly realised that was a total non-starter – every evening and most of the weekend was taken up with studying as there were guest lectures, online talks and lots and lots of reading and writing up of notes etc. Mind you, she was determined to get a distinction, maybe if she'd just been aiming to pass she could have taken it a little easier.

Also the course was a full year, not 8-9 months like an undergrad so she got no summer break, that was when she was writing her dissertation, which she finished towards the end of September.

MrsMigginsCat · 10/05/2022 18:42

£30k seems like a lot. Is that the international fee? DD is doing a masters over two year while working 30 hours a week and getting the £10k ish funding to cover the fees.

Needmoresleep · 10/05/2022 18:50

Don't look at the fees for management courses at Imperial! £37,500.00 for a Masters in Finance and Accounting. No discount for being a home student.

DS took at Masters in Econometrics and Mathematical Accounting at LSE a few years back. Even with the 10% discount he got for having been an undergraduate there it was still about £24k. However it was 10 months rather than the 2 years it would have been if he took up an offer for an Economics Masters at Oxford, and he was able to live at home.

The course was absolutely full on, so no real change of working. DS and his pees were regularly offered UG teaching work, but DS could not see how he could fit it in. He needed the Masters to apply for a PhD, and giving PhD funding is also competitive, it was probably wise to aim for the "best" course he could.

We found the money, but I don't think the parents of a couple of his friends would have been able to. (It is quite likely that they were already receiving bursaries at UG level.) Perhaps the University extended existing bursaries and included a fee remission, or perhaps they were able to get some form of career development loan, though the latter would seem more suitable for students aiming for the City. I don't know. It is a lot of money, and unlike engineering etc, you don't seem to find integrated four year Economics courses including Masters, which would allow you to access four years student finance.

Needmoresleep · 10/05/2022 18:52

Sorry typo. DS studied EME. Econometrics and Mathematical Economics.