2 kids at uni at same time … help!!!

[Lollypop701]

Eldest is already at university in Leeds and got minimal loan so we top up accommodation and give him living expenses each month. He deferred for a year.

Dd is applying for September… I really don’t think we can afford to fund them both at same time and will be for 2 years. Anyone any idea how it works. I don’t know what to do, how do I tell dd she can’t go

You need to know the exact costs.

Then work out your budgets.

Perhaps you split what was going to ds, so you pay the top up for both accomm fees and they have to find their other living expenses. Teach them how to budget. Start buying some extra long life food bits on the shopping now, so you can send them off with decent food parcels. Work out how long a term is, usually 12 weeks ish, and send them off with 24 bags of pasta, 24 cans of baked beans, 24 pasta sauces. That's easily 2 meals per week sorted. Then, in semester one, do the same for semester 2.

It should get cheaper at home without them there too, adding in some savings from your usual outgoings.

Start putting 100 quid a month away now, so that come September there will be a pot with 300 each in to send them off with. Combined with a decent food parcel, this could just about see them fed for the whole term. And repeat ready for semester 2.

There are ways, you just have to do it, be disciplined and get them to understand that they will have to find some money to live off. Whether they get a summer job and save every penny, a term time job, or whatever they can.

It'll be a hard couple of years, for them and you, but it's not impossible. And they'll have a better understanding of money if they're having to source some of it themselves!

The main problem is the student loan hasn’t increased in line with the cost of living. For household incomes over c £60k combined, the maintenance (ie loan for everything except tuition fees) is £4.6k.

Average cost of student accommodation is £7k. Without food.

So parents often end up paying c £7k a year accommodation per child at uni - so c £14k a year for 2 children - leaving the £4.5k loan for the student to live off - for food, essentials etc.

Some get higher loan due to lower parental household income, some have to find jobs to supplement, which as pp said can be very hard dependent on the city they are in and the course contact hours required, coupled with the zero hours contracts many employers favour which don’t fit with the needs of students always.

I had two at uni they got-

Full Loan for study
4-5 k maintenance (this altered depending on our earnings) this roughly covered accommodation
We sent £150 a month (each) and did a big shop twice a year.
They both worked.

I'd look at accommodation prices some unis are cheaper. House share is usually cheaper than halls.
How much are they working? DD's earnt around £600 a month in hospitality so had £750 for food, travel , social etc.

She might have to go to a university closer to home and commute. My parents never funding me at all so that was my option unless I wanted to get a job.

That's depressing. And not the system that I would vote for.

In a way I agree with this, also because I don’t think uni is needed all the time.

I went to uni, really hated my course by the end, had no idea what I wanted to do afterwards. Ended up working in a call centre and worked my way up the business. I was working in head office after just 2 years. I’m now in a different company and still see others doing the same.

DC in this situation should also look at term lengths.

some Universities are only teaching for 24 weeks. Either because they always have like oxbridge or be used they’ve switched to the two semester model. Others still have 30 weeks. At circa £250-£300 a week for rent and living cutting off six weeks can save a lot (although in second and third years accommodation often has to be paid for year round).

personally I think it’s a con that universities are switching to two semesters but it does result in a cheaper experience and much longer holidays (more weeks free for them to work).

I feel for you op. Luckily we have quite a big age gap so we have a few years to save for the next dc to go to uni otherwise we just wouldn't be able to do it as it's taking everything we have to pay for dd1 as it is! Dd is looking for work as we've said she needs to fund her social life, however, there are 2 universities in the city she's at as so really struggling to find part time work there, so don't just assume they be able to find a job to work around uni as it may not be that easy.
I'd probably go for the year out route and get them to work and save towards accommodation fees.

Can they not work? It's hard and they can't go out as much but this is what I did. I took a year out and worked for a year to save for uni. Parents paid my food and didn't charge me rent and most of what I earned went into a uni pot. I was only making £250 a week but that as well as extra shifts left me with 10k in the bank. You can then support after your first has left uni.

Op, on the note of ‘there are 2 unis so DC is struggling to find work, I never had trouble finding work as I took a gap year out where I worked at big chain store, and it meant I could secure jobs in other cities there as they didn’t need to be trained. There are always options to take.

Sorry pls can u explain why 40 year pay back is worse than 30?

as an aside I find it really hard that I always got less than my sister (I’m the eldest) so it probably needs a frank and fair convo with them both.

to anyone supporting masters, it’s also an option for your DC to wait until they can finance that themselves, took me 6 years but I did it and took another loan to do so.

Is one solution for dd to take a year out, live at home and work FT for that year ( or even more than FT- I had the energy for that at that age- shop in the day, bar at night/ weekends). That would give her a big financial cushion. That means you only have a one year overlap. DD then uses her savings that year and then you equalise the parental support for her last 2 years.

I agree that not everyone can go to Uni but I think in this situation, where you’ve subsidised one dc, you really do need to make it fair and offer equal support to dd. Not to do so, and potentially stopping her getting a degree, would be much more of a big deal IMO than sending one to state and one to private for example.

Remortgage?

Get a Loan?

O% credit cards?

First year in halls accommodation can be paid for by a 0% credit card.

DD may have to stay in this type of accommodation for first two years so you can max out 0% credit cards.

I looked at our monthly budgets and realised I was overspending and cut back. I pay for DS’s accommodation/bills and he lives off the minimum loan. His accommodation is less next year (2nd year) as he is in his second year so living in a house share not halls. I’m also trying to save each month so he has a lump sum when he graduates. This is only possible after scrutinising our budget and making changes.

I did pay for halls on 0% credit card and saved the money we already had saved for this for him to have a year of accommodation in an account upfront just in case something happens (5 year degree).

It’s so much harder for you with two. Please try and make it work for your DD. 0% credit cards are great for paying for halls and there are loads available.

Get your DCs to trawl the websites of the unis they are going to, to see if there are any scholarships they can apply for. There is more out there than people think. Also, if either of them have any disabilities/learning needs, apply for the Disabled Students Allowance when applying for their student loan. They can also have a look on the scholarship hub (but there are often scholarships not listed on there but are listed on the Uni websites).

DD does NHS shifts as a health care assistant. alongside her degree. It's very flexible, she just signs up when needed (which is virtually every shift!) and when she's free. She gets paid double time for night shifts and some weekend shifts.

She loves the work and loves the money. And is now qualified to work at any hospital so can pick up "bank" shifts when at home too. She made £900 last month.

@MariaVT65 not every course will allow a gap year, maths based ones especially. Depending on the course some students don't have that much flexibility, humanities courses maybe but STEM is heavy on lectures, tutorials, labs and practicals. Ds would find it very difficult to work alongside uni fortunately we can fully fund him. In fact he would probably burn out.

@Lollypop701 "cost of his housing next year is over £4k on top of his loan" and that is where you went wrong. Your son's accommodation in Leeds is £8.5k? Fuck me it must be nice. There are so many more much cheaper options than this and you should have had a discussion with him about his expectations if you knew that your youngest would also be going to uni. My niece is in Leeds and in a shared house for another year.

Your eldest will have to cut right back, it would be interesting to know how much money you provide for him on top of the accommodation.

Accommodation costs have risen sharply and student loans have not kept up.

Yes, I'd avoid Durham. Lovely but small and £10,000 plus a year for accommodation isn't uncommon at the moment. My son sat outside the estate agent from 2am in his first year as that's how ridiculously competitive it had become although this year was slightly better.

I'm guessing the bigger cities - Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham etc have more accommodation and a wider choice of rents.

Just reading comments. We are both working full time, ds is working weekends Dd will try to get a job too, she’s working but only one day a week but summer holiday work will help.

Will have to cut our cloth as a family and have a conversation with both of them. The sums can (frugally) add up, just not much room for manoeuvre and had a panic last night.

Yes I came to say exactly this. It’s so sad to hear people say ‘uni is a luxury some cannot afford’. When I went to uni in 2005 it was a case of everyone could afford to go by taking a loan and there were grants available for the poorest and parents were expected to top up a bit.

but from memory, the minimum loan was a bit over £3k (plus a separate loan for fees). My accommodation including food was just under that amount, meaning any grant/parental contribution/part time work funded living costs.

I got the minimum loan due to my dads high income, and my dad topped me up to the maximum loan amount (about £3k per year perhaps) and I worked in the holidays. I didn’t need a term time job and didn’t have to scrimp and save that much.

that was almost 20 years ago. The fact the loan has only gone up £1k in that time is madness, as living costs have gone through the roof! Also, my dad earning over £60k 20
years ago genuinely meant he was quite a high earner and it was fair he should be expected to contribute a bit . The fact that amount hasn’t shifted upwards significantly as well is madness, £60k wouldn’t go anywhere near as far these days.

it’s just jot acceptable in my view that university is not accessible to some due to costs 😔 sure there are degree apprenticeships and other career paths available but plenty of careers (teacher, doctor, dentist, lawyer just off the top of my head) rightly require a degree and nothing less.

If either of them could achieve their career goals without a degree I would and have encouraged them to consider other options. There are some great apprenticeships.

We are looking at accommodation for both as this is the most problematic area. I have a been buying extra food as I go along etc.

as for work my friends child comes home at weekends to work because they have tried and failed to find work locally, so there are options to consider.

uni should be available to everyone, and I accept parents should help if they can, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

DS2 currently signed for a house in York next year at £200 a week on a 12 month let. We also have DS1 in Nottingham. Uni accomodation fees take currently just about what I earn!

@Sunnnybunny72 wow, DS has just signed up for his 2nd year accommodation at £115pw and it’s a nicer house than ours! Location is key

There is a huge variance in accommodation costs - especially beyond Y1. Cardiff and Liverpool spring to mind as being much more economical than say Bristol or London.

Sadly many of the “top tier” unis (with the notable exception of Oxbridge who have very rich benefactors so are the cheapest there are) are just too expensive for many. Others have major accommodation stock problems which pushes up prices eg St Andrews/Durham.

There isn't nearly enough published or advised to parents about the eye watering costs involved and how to make savings. Someone should create an app…..

I have 2 at uni with 3 years overlapping. But as they were born 18 months apart we knew it might happen and saved what we could.

They both took a year out and worked like mad. The reality is it is still hard. They get £4600ish each in maintenance loan. Rent is £6600 and £7200... for a student houseshare room...we pay their rent. They pay everything else.

But we are expected to pay around £5000 each of them anyhow since that would take them up to the same level as those students who qualified for the max loan.
I know it is worth it. They are already being considered for positions that are around what we earn, with no experience.

I don’t know about Cambridge but Oxford private rents are certainly extremely expensive. There may be more scholarships/bursaries available but if you don’t qualify for those it’s an expensive place to live.