So tuition fees are increasing. Will this change your DC’s thoughts on university

[user7654263]

It’s much needed for the sector but with tuition fees increasing and accommodation being eye wateringly expensive will this change your DCs view on university? It’s so expensive and the interest in student loans starts from day one so racks up really quickly.

I feel grateful to have gone in the days of grants but have one at university and one in year 13 and it’s really something you need to evaluate carefully to see whether it’s worth it.

I still suspect it won’t be enough to save the universities that are on the brink of collapse unfortunately.

@Meadowfinch yes it's got a high interest rate but at the end of the day most people won't pay it back. An incredibly inefficient system but it works well for graduates. I graduated 4 years ago and haven't paid back a penny.

Can post any single examples of where this is true?

Blame Tony Blair.

There's too many universities and too many going.

Long term it will be a good thing.

Which isn’t great for taxpayers I guess. Someone else is paying yours off. Out of curiosity have you used your degree? No offence, just interested.

@NotDonna yes. I just happen to not have an incredibly well paid job for a number of reasons. I will be paying it back soon.

X post!

@itwasnevermine ah great that it’s been useful! I think many aren’t. It’s just the ‘graduate’ bit that’s required. Which is fine as an educated population is no bad thing!

My son is just about to start his 2nd year at Newcastle University. He wants to be a Quantity Surveyor so needs to do a Masters. He stayed at halls last year but hated it (never settled) and, as we live less than an hour away, he has decided to commute this year (which will also reduce costs). He has a low contact timetable - he's only there one full day and two half days - so it's a bit pointless living there. I went to a regional university too and got the bus in for the first couple of years (took forever, as if went through all of the little villages), did my sandwich year out and got a car for my final year (I had a part time job). I went to university before fees were introduced so living at home, and commuting in, meant it didn't cost much. I feel really sorry for kids these days. It's so much debt!

My daughter has just started A-levels so I do worry about the debt she's going to end up with. It's also concerning the amount of young people who end up stuck in low paid jobs (I see them in my own profession) as there are so many of them competing for one job! I think paid apprenticeships are the way to go!

@boys3 for those of us that didn’t see The Times on Saturday - what did it actually say?

Covid unfortunately screwed with my career progression entirely, which is a shame.

Personally I think university has become overvalued. Getting a degree used to be a very impressive thing but now everyone is getting one.

Things like dance, acting, art degrees. Why? Do they provide a real benefit in life? If you're looking to go into teaching then fine, but that should be offered alongside a degree that gives you QTS.

Things like nursing never used to be jobs that required a degree. Now they do. It's insane.

My younger son took a gap year as was not sure what he wanted to do.

Has now opted to do his degree via Open Uni.

So no accommodation costs and it gives him the flexibility to still travel, volunteer and teach on line as he has done during his gap year.

He is planning to graduate with no loans by working part time.

He is not worried about missing out on the in person experience.

My other children attended brick and mortar unis and that was the best choice for them and they loved the in person experience despite the debt.

Well that's what happens when the likes of Braverman and Sunak demonise international students who are paying for the whole shebang.

My DC will still go.

Tbh an increase of around 3k in the context of borrowing 50k+ for fees and maintenance over 3 years, I wouldn’t have thought would really make much difference.

The problem for us is the high cost for accommodation, and the fact that the maintenance loans often don’t cover it, rather than the fees.
If my dc ended up ruling out particular universities, it would be due to living costs - if you don’t have the money upfront, you can’t go.

Whereas the fees (which imo are still very good value even if they do go up) get paid directly to the university by the loans company, so you don’t have to worry about them until you start earning.

It's such a huge amount of money for us that we are considering moving to Scotland while the dc are still young.

DH has family there and I hate the idea of dc starting their lives with such a large millstone around their neck.

Here you go

www.thetimes.com/article/d8b73d13-8361-4c02-80e6-1896b6768ed4?shareToken=a1ec6f829b95f7d92e68bef6ace89755

It's really not a millstone.

I think they need to change the name, as loan implies it's something bad - but it's not.

My son was already not keen due to the costs and this would likely make him less keen but I think we have to start looking at the cost of halls as a major issue too.

He could go to his local uni but we have to be realistic that the value of a degree from that uni is not the same value as one from some other unis even though they cost the same.

Amongst his friends, they all want a degree apprentiship. The government need to massively invest in these somehow ti make employers want to offer them.

If this goes up and grants come in the middle will carry a huge cost again

@NotDonna I’ll copy and paste the summary I posted on another thread.

basically nothing definitive, nothing approved by the Treasury, BP quoted as calling it “complex”. Largely a teaser article ahead of Uni UK’s Blueprint for the Future being published this week, possibly today.

But @ErrolTheDragon had kindly posted a link to the online article. Very slightly different, but no difference if any consequence, to the front page print copy in the Sunday Times yesterday.

I echo what others say. A small increase in fees is not a problem. The problem is accommodation costs. I think universities are responsible for the huge increases in private rental costs in university cities when they expanded student numbers and also started to build more expensive university accommodation, which private landlords matched.

It used to be more common for university accommodation to be cheap and for universities to be able to accommodate students for 2 or 3 years of their degree - when they were smaller and funded by government. And although private accommodation was often grim, at least it was cheap.

DC1 is almost finished their degree. DC2 was not keen on uni and did a BTEC which historically easily led to an apprenticeship. Now with rising costs of university, everyone wants to do an apprenticeship and in the last year, fewer were advertised and more were applying. They're giving it another year to apply but will have no choice but to go to uni if they can't find an alternative way in to a relevant company. In that case, they'll be basing their decision on best universities they can get into where it is cheaper to live.

This.

I'm £60,000 in student loan debt and every month I pay back ... £11. I'm not unemployed either, I'm have a senior position and good salary.
I think the repayment terms are more important than the number.

So who gets a grant and who pays more?