Generous granny and uni help - what to ask for?

[BettyBotter]

My lovely parents have told us they want to help out our dcs (17 and 15) with uni costs. (Very fantastic because after dh was made redundant we are on an extremely low wage and I was dreading the costs). I have no idea if we are talking hundreds, thousands or more. I guess my elderly folks have no idea that uni now costs a good 30K in fees alone but they're talking to a 'person from the bank to sort things out' on Monday and want to know how best to help.

I've got a vague idea that I've heard that you shouldn't avoid the fee loans as it's a great rate but wondered if help towards living costs e.g. halls of residence would be a good thing to ask for?

Are there any clever finance people about who know and understand this stuff for some ideas?

I think there are loans to cover living costs but also non repayable grants and bursaries if you are on a low wage. Living costs vary too so an idea of where they want to study would help you to estimate costs. Have a look at the studentroom website.

The way student loans are paid and interest calculated has changed recently (last year or two) and you don't get as good a rate as you used to (although it's probably still pretty good). I'm not 100% sure, hopefully someone with some more info will be along shortly!

There's a great section on the whole issue of student finance on Moneysaving expert which you should have a browse around.

Thanks all. The MS site is really good 3Nations.