Cost to parents of university

[jennylamb1]

DS is looking to do Computer Science at university. The RG university on our doorstep requires AAB, which could be a reach, whereas another, which would involve living away from home, is BBB for a decent Computer Science degree.
With an approx 70k household income he would probably only get a 4.5k a year maintenance loan. How much would it cost to live away from home at a Home Counties Uni?

There are lots of variables, cost of living varies from area to area. Is campus within walking distance or would transport costs need to be met. The £4,500 is unlikely to cover rent so that will need topping up. My DS had a weekend job, a couple of grand in savings. We sent him £50 a week, covered the rent deficit which was a grand. Paid his phone. He went to Nottingham Trent so no transport costs. Gets cheaper once they move out of halls. After each break sent him back with lots of food basics, toiletries etc. He had to live quite frugally.

Thankyou, it is a quandary isn’t it! I think university overall is worth it, however we’re wondering whether he should stay at home and do a humanities degree with lower entry criteria or away from home doing Computer Science which will involve more costs but should get him into a lucrative career.

@jennylamb1you should always play the long game. However, you need to look at if a computer science degree from a lower ranked university will still lead to a lucrative career. And BTW I did a science degree and my DH humanities, and he outearns me by multiples

Yes, we are on the horns of a dilemma somewhat. DS wants to be a computer games software developer, he is good at maths, but we don’t know if he is A at A level good, and doing History or Geography would make it a lot easier to get into our local RG university, in which case he could stay at home and save us and him £10,000s.

We get minimum loans for ours so it's costing us about £500 per month per child to top up. One is at Oxbridge so lives very frugally - lucky because he can't get a job. The other works PT to top up her loans and aside from train travel home and mobile contracts, that is it.

Minimum loan for living away, outside London for next year (25/26) is around £4.9k. The expectation is to top up to maximum loan of around £10.5k.

With careful picking of location, where accommodation is cheaper (so mainly in the north, Wales and random spots elsewhere), most students can cope with that if they work part time during term time and/or work full time over the holidays. If they can find work after A levels until they start uni, they can save a useful amount.

I think it is really important the students pick a degree course they are passionate about. Uni is hard - not just the work, but looking after oneself, budgeting, making new friends, self study (of which there is a lot). They need to be happy with the subject they pick.

If it is going to be a real struggle, then may be look at deferring for a year so that he can work full time for a year and save up a good cushion before starting. He would need to check with unis whether they would be happy with this though as many maths based courses don't really like students not doing maths for a year before starting the course.

That is a good point, he has also got about £8k from his Junior ISA that he could put towards it. The BBB Computer Science degree is at University of Surrey so living costs are likely to be high, however it does look to have good job prospects after, since it is a sandwich course and ranks about 20th in the subject area nationally.

Depends a lot on the costs of the university. My yp pays their rent through their maintenance loan, and has a small amount left over for things they need. We pay for their shopping weekly, and will give them money if they need it. They're really sensible though so rarely asks for more then their shopping amount.

Next year rent will be more as it's a longer contract and won't be completely covered by their loan. We will give extra each month but again they have been sensible and got a reasonable priced rental so it won't be too much more.

which will involve more costs but should get him into a lucrative career.

Reframe it - he's making an investment in his career. Which action (university) is going to give him the better return? (Given that he puts in the hard work, of course).

Fees £9.5k
Accommodation - anything from 5-10k
food
books
etc

basically a bloody lot

I reckon it’s about £20k per year all in (i.e. including tuition fees). Although that’s for a very frugal existence, and my DC tend to top that up by working. (I have one at Exeter and one at Newcastle).

I think it is normal to pay for accommodation and leave them the minimum loan to live off. If you really can’t afford that they will have to work in the holidays.
I would recommend he studies the course he prefers at the right university. He will be spending three years of his life doing this and going into great depth so he needs to be fully committed.
It could lead to a career in a related industry or simply be a stepping stone into a graduate program. Computer science is well regarded.
Most universities have their accommodation costs on their website so go have a look. Also remember he may not be offered a place there so have back up options. If he is already studying a levels get him to some of the summer open days to learn more.

Thanks for the advice, we’re realised that his child trust fund matures when he’s 18 so there’s some in there to go towards it as well at the right time.

DDs student loan doesn’t even cover her halls rent so I have to support her

DDs accommodation is £13k😩

My DD uses the £4.5k loan for her living expenses and course expenses.
We pay her rent of about £7k per year.
She also works 10-15 hours a week at minimum wage. Luckily she has been able to get work in an area related to the work she wants to do after graduation.

OP have a look at the uni website to get an idea of their accommodation costs, but be prepared for them to be given the most expensive (happened to us even though it was his 4th choice of 5). If you’ve time to spare and are that interested run up a click and collect Tesco food shop to get an idea of local prices.

My DS is not Home Counties or London but self catering accommodation is £921/mth. We pay that and he lives off his loan (min amount).

The area is great for games designers as many companies based in Guildford and London isn't far.
Lots of money in the area means lots of opportunities - maths tutoring, bar work, giant Tesco near campus. I think he'd be fine.

My brother always wanted to be a computer games developer when he was young but ended up going to Glasgow Uni to do a Software developer course. He got his ordinary degree there (we do 4 years in scotland not 3) but my husband died suddenly midway through his course and my brother was really affected by it so in his 4th year he transferred to a local uni which isnt considered prestigious at all, to continue his final year. He applied for a graduate scheme with Sky mid way through his final year and got in and never completed his honours. He is now on £80k as a senior software developer at Sky and has never looked back. He is only 31 just now so plenty of time for his career to go even further.

Point of what I am saying is, your son has to enjoy what he is doing at uni to be able to last the duration. My brother was miserable at one of the best unis in Scotland and transferring to a less well known uni in his final year had no bearing on his job opportunities thereafter.

Best of luck to your son, we are going through it just now with my daughter who is moving from Scotland to London to do performing arts and the costs are eyewatering.

Thankyou, that’s very thoughtful.

You don’t need to work on the basis of you paying the accommodation (could be up to £10k depending on uni and if catered, en-suite, how many weeks you pay for etc) and then let them live off the min loan of £4.5k. That could give them £14.5k and they don’t need that much.

I work on figures of a full maintenance loan which is properly adjusted for inflation - would be about £12k. So my DC gets £12k. If I received the full maintenance loan, I’d top up to £12k. If I got the minimum maintenance loan I’d top up to £12k and if we weren’t taking a loan I’d ensure they had £12k …either from us or a combination of us and holiday work.

It helps to start with a figure in mind. Then you look at what loan you have and then have much top up needed. This is usually less expensive to parents than saying you will find the accommodation and leave them with minimum maintenance loan to live.

My view - is what’s the point of having 14-15k which is more than needed which includes a sizeable which will require repayment and interest compounding over many years? If I wanted to give £9k or whatever the accom costs, I’d just be taking a loan of £3k so less interest accrues. Yes, I know monthly payments won’t be different as are 9% if earnings, but less interest will accrue as will be paid off earlier and interest on smaller amount.
Or I’d take the full maintenance loan and top to £12k and save myself a few thou on parental contribution.

£12k is a good figure to work to.

Approx. £10k for all costs apart from tuition fees. Then they earn money in the holidays to top up for the extras, such as ski trips etc.
Whilst it seems like it’s much cheaper for them to live at home, I think the experience of living away from home as a safe stepping stone into adult life, and the fun and independence they will have, far outways this.

Are you dead set on a Russell Group uni? Might be worth widening your options - RG unis aren’t always the best ones depending on the subject, especially for something like games development. My DS is studying computer game design and programming at the University of Staffordshire - the games development dept there is incredible. They are the top uni in the UK for this subject, and are ranked 7th in the world. They absolutely have the reputation in the games industry as the university that you would want to have on your CV. And cost of living is super low. It might not be what you’re looking for, but it’s definitely worth looking outside RG ones.

I think it is normal to pay for accommodation and leave them the minimum loan to live off. If you really can’t afford that they will have to work in the holidays.

There is no 'normal'. Most of DC's friends put their maintenance loan towards their rent and then parents gave them monthly money for food. Some topped that up with bar work in term time.

Others had a full loan and obviously had a lot more money.

I have two at university. We pay their rent and they use the minimum loan to live off. It seems to be a very common way of doing it.

It then just means that you have to be sensible when looking at which universities cost the most in rent. Brighton is astronomically expensive. London is expensive, Edinburgh is expensive (and all scottish universities are four year courses so automatically more expensive).