True University Costs for Bank of Mum and Dad

[Richielogic]

Nothing anyone can really help me or advise on, its more of a gripe / moan really:-

I have two teenagers both going to UNI. Daughter this year and Son who is a year two student. My wife and I work our socks off full time, usual costs as you can expect and cost of living crisis will hit us like everyone else.

For child 1:-
The uni tuition fees are paid in full at £ 9,250 - great
The maintenance loan is £ 4,524 discounted from £ 9,706 due to means testing.

So Bank of mum and dad are on for £5,200+ to make up the short fall according to SFE.

In reality the uni accommodation alone is £8,096. Yes there were some cheaper ones but due to covid last year and deferred applications for this year, numbers are high and its difficult to secure them.

Also allowance on top to support whilst they settle in, for food and costs to support whilst they find part time jobs etc. So i estimate it is going to cost bank of mum and dad about 9k per child per Uni year

I guess my point is we talk a lot about student debt but in reality it doesn't even cover all the costs associated with them going to University. The maintenance loan doesn't even cover accommodation. Bank of mum and dad cop for a chunk of it.

So in my case i need to net £18k earnings to ensure my two children can go and despite that they will both finish a three year course with £41,322 student loan debt - ridiculous.

What about those children whose parents don't support them??

The way its going, seriously its going to end up that only the elite go. The costs are just obscene.

Some children are having to factor in accommodation costs at the specific university in deciding the University Rather than going to the one that's best for the subject matter and their development

Anyhow it is what it is

Any parents out there helping support this years costs i feel your pain..

My children both did Masters degrees at Russel group universities. They took the maximum student loans they were able to and both left with around £56,000 of debt. The universities requested that due to the nature of their degrees and contact time that they did not get jobs during term time. They both worked every summer. I had to subsidise the cost of living for them both as they did not have enough to live and pay rent.
Overall I paid £40,000 which nearly broke the bank as I don't earn a huge amount...I am still paying the remained of the bank loan I took out to help them.
I remember when Nick Clegg was Deputy Prime minister giving a key note speech saying that university was affordable for all...no it is not!

We paid our kids accommodation but they all worked in the preceding summer holidays ( from year 10) to save up for uni. They also got part time jobs at Uni as soon as they could. They supported themselves with living expenses due to this.
Stop handing everything to them on a plate, it’s about life skills as well as academics.
Poor darlings having to share a kitchen with 8 other students ffs 🤦‍♀️
Why haven’t your kids got their savings to use ? Bad planning.

I think there's a lot to be said for that.

Unfortunately, DD1 is aiming for a career which is only available with a specific degree and the closest university to us doesn't offer it. She did apply to the nearest one that does (about 40 miles away) but they turned her down. So she's going somewhere which is well beyond daily travel. Our jobs aren't mobile, though we did ponder early retirement and moving, but DD2 is doing her GCSEs this coming year and we can't mess them up.

@Shirty48 if your daughter wants to teach she may be able to get bursaries. Geography and languages teachers can receive a bursary of £15k. Maths, physics, computing and chemistry up to £26k. there is often additional funding for those with disabilities too

My DC are young so I have this to look forward to...but it's interesting reading the comments. I'm from a middle class family - no grants whatsoever - so I had to work through Uni. Parents did pay accommodation but back then (mid 90s) it was £150 a month! I was staying in halls with 15 students to a cooker and 2 showers which I didn't bat an eyelid at so it does amuse me a bit that they essentially build luxury accommodation and then expect students to shell out £££ for it when most would be happy staying in squalor, or would they? Have expectations changed?

University changed my life and it is really important to me that mine could have the full Uni experience,live away from home etc

@CakeCrumbs44 thanks i’ll look into that. Sadly she’s fixed on teaching infants so no bursaries for that but I’ll look into the disability angle.

Lone parent......no help.
Now work in well paid job, but didn't untill last 2 years therefore no chance to save.
5 children, 3 at uni at the same time and means testing don't look at current expenses, give very little off for additional children.
Must give each child £1,120 per term to make up the shortfall of the loan.
All children work to top up in holidays but can't in term time due to the nature of the degree. DC at home in exam years............
I really want to support them and will manage somehow to make up the shortfall but anything on top of that is impossible and it's impacting our home and my other DC too.
I wish one could apply for the additional part of the lone from student finance as a parent!

It's shockingly expensive, and we explained to all our DC that the cost of accommodation needed to be factored into their university choices, so don't pick the most expensive cities. They don't always do what you tell them, mind you, one of them chose to rent in another part of London even though we live in London! But at that point, a decade ago, his loan more than covered the accommodation and although we had to give him some money to live, it wasn't a lot and he doesn't spend much anyway.
My youngest DC is going to Uni this year, and his loan doesn't cover the cost of halls.. this is partly because we no longer have other dependents, and I earn more ( slightly) than I did. The halls are actually cheaper than I anticipated (5k approx) and bearing in mind energy costs, he may well be better off in fixed price halls than in a slightly cheaper shared house but with expensive bills.
But I can see that in poorer families, the expected contribution will be very difficult to find, and energy bills will be a real issue.

Fortunately we were advised to set up a college fund when we had DC in the late 1990s, so we did. Grandparents have been able to chip in too. It has made a huge difference. It’s something that needs to be actively promoted in the UK.

But I also agree that students accommodation expectations have rocketed - back in the 80s my uni hall was a 5 bedroom flat with shared kitchen and bathroom. Other halls had bathrooms that all the rooms on the floor shared. Shared bedrooms weren’t unusual either.

Only people who earn more can set up college funds, most of us are just paying the bills.

That's 42k already.... that would make a very decent house deposit outside of London.
Is your DD expected to graduate and land a very well paid job?

I agree that when looking at University options you should fully understand the accommodation options available and costs and factor this in. It shouldn’t be like that but its how it is.

However, having gone through the process I highlight three key points. Not all Universities work the same regarding the accommodation stage, but many do: -

1. Student Finance is detached from the University. The course fees £9,250 are paid. The maintenance and living costs are reduced depending on what the parent earns, and the parent doesn’t need to earn that much to reduce it significantly. In my case DD was got £ 4,524. Student Finance expect bank of mum and dad to make up the difference. Try the calculator for yourself:

www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

1. They apply on UCAS and select university options. Then they await offers and then the stress of exam results if they got the place they wanted or not. Champagne or tears at that point. Ultimately a decision gets made on the university choice and it’s firmed up.

1. When your place is secure you then apply for the accommodation. You select your top ideal choices and your budget. In the case of Bristol for example it is NOT first come first served and an offer is made on a specific date. Accept or decline or look for something in the private sector.

Some get lucky and get one of their top three some not so lucky might get 9th choice. Main thing is they get an offer of somewhere to live. Demand is so high they get fully subscribed.

So, its all very good some here saying I’m only paying £5k when in reality, the pressure is on if you get accommodation at all. IF the only accommodation they can offer you is £7k, what do you do? You can decline. You get two days to accept or decline. If you decline another student can take it.

The private sector is no better, Students are getting gazumped!!

Finally, as I mentioned 70% of accommodation has rooms with en-suite and 6 to 11 share a kitchen. But let me make this clear, this is not amazing accommodation. Look at the video link I posted in this thread that room the young girl is showing you is £ 8,703. Its nice and clean but its not amazing is it.

If you are reading this and have a child in year 7 at school, if you have not already done so start a saving account now, earlier the better, because if your child goes to university as many do you you are going to need it.

Good luck all

Everyone can afford to go to uni you just cut your cloth accordingly.

Students of this she should have CTFs to cash in at 18. Have you not been putting any top ups into this?

Did you never save anything fur uni?

Have DC's not had part time jobs since 16? If they work full time from June- September before uni they should have £6k saved (£9.50 nmw x 40 hour week x 16 week summer). Then there's term time working and full time over the frequent and long uni holidays. Thousands more.

Students also get £2k in interest free overdrafts. They can also access 0% credit cards. It's only 3 years.

If they are really hard up/ have disabilities/ caring responsibilities/ doing something like medicine where you can't work extra then staying at home is an option.

If they live away what on earth is wrong with sharing with 6? Ensuites are a huge luxury! When I was at uni we had a kitchen for 12, 2 showers, 1/2 a shelf each in the fridge and freezer, no net access and a payphone in the corridor (noughties not eighties).

Maybe your DC's need to learn not to be spoilt...

Students even used to room share (the horror!!!!)

@Richielogic Yes, agreed on all points. Our own experience with our DD was unusual in several ways; our stages 2 and 3 were both atypical. I'm certainly not suggesting that everyone can find on 5k rent, just saying how happy I am that we managed to. We're likely to be in a different position with DS and I'm gently pushing him towards the degree-apprentice approach.

Yes totally I can't wait for DD to graduate next year we will be significantly better off!! It's all the hidden costs like train fares/travel to and fro each term, stuff like that. On top of rent and living allowance.

I am a single mum, luckily DS gets the full loan - but it doesn't really make that much difference as I am in my arse financially and have had to use a credit card to get him the things he needs.
His father has refused to help at all as 'he's a man now'

True. There's a tax-advantaged investment account called a 529 plan that you open with the kids as beneficiaries. You can buy mutual funds with broadly diversified portfolios of stocks and bonds. Capital gains, dividends, and interest income all accumulate tax-free as long as they are ultimately spent on educational costs, including room and board, books, laptops, etc. We also get to deduct the contributions from our taxable income for state income taxes. This made it so much easier to accumulate substantial funds. We had an automatic bank transfer set up to make the deposits. Here's more about how they work.

www.nysaves.org/home/basics-of-529s/529-basics.html?

Not everyone needs to go away to university.
they can live at home and go. Sacrilege to say this on mumsnet where everyone is supposed to be fully fledged at 18 . But if you’re paying 10k for child to live away from you then they are not independent are they?

given the energy costs this year I would expect next years accommodation costs to be higher again. My opinion is that parents and children need to have honest conversations about what is actually affordable for higher education and what the realistic options are. Stop swallowing the propaganda that the only way to receive a higher education is by paying extortionate amounts to owners of student accommodation.

the difference is that in US it is normal to have college fund - in UK it isn't. University used to be free, grants were enough to live on.

I have one DC at university and another starting this month.

So far with DC1 it has been manageable. He took out the maximum loan & grant that was available (I appreciate we're in Wales so this is slightly different to England). He also sat some entrance exams and was awarded a few grand in bursaries from that. This means he can afford to live in the nicer halls with an en-suite and double bed. He still shares a kitchen with 7 other students, but it is a fairly nice flat and within easy walking distance of his department. He has worked over the summer which has topped up his bank account, plus we'd been saving since he was a baby which gave him some money when he turned 18. He very much likes his home comforts and prioritises things like an en-suite and running a car, but he knows he has to earn enough money in the holidays to keep this up and also that it means less to spend on nights out and takeaways.

DC2 has also taken out the maximum loan & grant, has been working and had money from savings when he turned 18. He is going to a slightly more expensive university in terms of accommodation, so has chosen a fairly basic one to keep costs down. Pretty small room, shared bathroom and kitchen with (I think) 4 other students. Basically the same as when I went to university to be honest. But he'd rather have a basic room and a bit more cash spare for fun - it's his choice.

We also have DC3 who will go to university in 2024, so we're in this for the long haul. But again we have savings, she works, she will have to make the same decisions that her brothers did.

It isn't ideal, but it isn't awful either and I think at the moment there are a lot of people worse off than my student DC. Learning to budget and having to sometimes go without one thing to afford another is part of growing up.

I have 4 dds including triplets. All 4 have been through university and dd4 is in her final year. I saved for their university education from when they were toddlers, but even so, it has been brutal on the finances.

@downtonupton tje pint is needs to become the norm in the UK

but is isnt' yet and there are lots like OP and us who are earning enough to mean the available loan is reduced - but whose outgoings are such that we will struggle to support our child through uni with the executed top up and additional support - even though he will work.

We didn't think it would be necessary - there were loans when I went, but not tuition fees too - we have been putting money away as most parents do - but this is less than he will need.

There are also greater opportunities for scholarships in America because the situation is set up differently.

DS wants to an arts degree with no opportunity for corporate sponsorship - we won't say no because it is his passion, but we we will really have to go without for him to go.

I know, someone up thread made the same point. I posted the details about 529 education accounts here because it seems to me that since uni is no longer free, the UK could benefit from a similar arrangement to help parents save for education costs.