How am I going to be able to fund 2 DDs through university?

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

Just realised this is going to be expected in 6 years from now!
How do i do it? do i start saving into some sort of account? if so which one?
and DD1 has decided she wants to be a doctor which means 7 years studying!!!!!
what on earth do i do?

We had a mesmerisingly interesting and bats ex-pupil who had done a truly esoteric degree at a major university, come and chat to our Latin Club on Friday. The children were all most impressed. This man will never be materially successful but his groundness and sheer originality was really inspiring.

Have to be honest - I'm more worried about the next year than how much we will have in 2016

One of our neighbours has saved up to buy herself a car and is working a 42 hr week over the summer to get her food money for uni

the thing is that working through university isn't tht hard (unless you do a 9-5 lab course) becase often it's only 12 hours teaching a week

interesting article

That's what we've done so far. we have an o.k lifstyle. the DDs get (almost) everything they should wish for. We have nice days out (but can't stretch to exotic holidays).
Should we thighten up a bit and try to save? woul it be better to have a little bit put by for a deposit or university fees, or spend now to give them an enjoyable childhood?
And if they were to suggest I fund them to study 3 years of body art or beauty therapy of course i will go ape be supportive.

I definitely agree that we need to rethink targets for entry to HE in this country. You hear dismal tales of 350 people in a seminar and a more or less debased educational experience for the hapless self-funding students involved. Tbh I think they want a lot of them there so they can finally master joined-up writing from what I hear from colleagues in other HEIs.

a student loan isn't the same as a normal debt though, because of the very low interest and the chance of not paying it back until you are earning a bit.

you started your working life with one and you were ok weren't you?

as for fees: students from low income families are exempt. if you're not a low income family, then you're probably spending more than £1000 a year on their food/money/taxi services aren't you? maybe you'll have to talk them out of going to a university that charges top up fees though...

Although my tuition fees were paid for (good old days) I got no grant as family earnings were too high.

My parents funded me through university and I will do the same for my children.

Their investment in my education was the greatest gift they could have given me and has enabled me in turn to realise a very high earning career.

I would like my DCs to have the same opportunity as I had to further their education, should they want it. What they do with it afterwards is entirely up to them.

it is a shame not to invest in quality vocational education, too, Marina. this is a HUGE strength, as much so as university, methinks. both should be seen as viable, attractive options for school leavers.

people have different strengths and the government would do well to exploit this if they want a productive, diversified and happier workforce.

as people are going to need to work longer, it's time to end age discrimination with regards to vocational education and apprenticeships as well.

there is nothing more wasteful than shutting out 30-year-olds (or over 26-year-olds, for that matter) whose life experience has shown them that they would enjoy making a living in a skilled trade, particularly when they reasonably have another 30+ years of work service to offer.

I'm not too bothered about what people study so long as they are not fleeced by HEFCE and their degree awarding institution. That's what I think is wrong with the sector in this country. I think some of the most shoddy course planning and teaching goes on on degree courses such as BCom and Business Studies, tbh, all of which would look fine on a CV.
Methinks Boris is making double sure no-one thinks he is elitist. I wonder where all his retinue at City Hall studied?

We do both in proportion - we don;t go abroad on holiday, dh has just been made redundant so I am back teaching full time til he starts work again BUT the upside it we paid off our mortgage which is like a dream come true, the boys get most things they want (I am a mean mummy), we follow a rigid budget imposed by dh but most people would say we were pretty well off.

the threshold for paying back those loans has been lowered and it's now pretty low, SP. enough to make it a real struggle if you're on a beginning wage and have that to pay back as well.

levels of entry to university in scotland have dropped as a result.

a trend that may continue.

student loan = £100 out of my monthly salary I could do with for other things although I couldn't have got through university without it therefore wouldn't have my present job.
Although could be saving £100 a month for the DDs to start their adult lives with, which I never had and wuld have been nice.

expat - older people can take vocational courses, and if they're unemployed, they can be free too (only some are free though).

I do broadly agree that vocational education should get a better press and more funding. But as an employer, I have to say it needs to be better full stop though.

It took yeaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssssss to pay off my student loan.

SP, many apprenticeships top out at the age of 26. in fact, poor nutcracker found herself shut out of a course she wanted to do, because she was 29.

...I think they should replace loans with a graduate tax. but that's another thing.

I think you do what you can reasonably afford to do.

With me I was pg at 16 and didn't have good enough grades for uni anyway, my sister had her heart set on being a hairdresser so didn't go to uni, 2 of my older brothers also didn't go to uni but set up their own business in plumbing and my younger brother is clever enough to go to uni but has just been signed up for the local football team so now wont be going to uni.

My dp went to uni and worked to pay for it as well as getting a student loan. Both his sisters went to uni when his parents were a bit better off and so they helped by paying for their accomodation and phone bills. Dp doesn't feel this is unfair because we have 2 dc's which his parents adore and they frequently spend money on our dc's.

...but anyway, £100 a month may seem a lot, but the vast majority of graduates earn more than £100 a month extra because they have a degree.

If we help them through their student years, then to buy a car, then to buy a house etc etc it just never stops
They need to learn to stand on their own two feet and cope financially themselves. That's half the point of going to uni imo

Martin lewis who has Bern working with govt on uni finding was on radio 2 saying recently do not need to fund your kids thru uni. By all means offer them spending money if you can afford. Bottom line being student loans are CHEAP and affordable and fair.
do get more info. We intend ds1 now 14 to funding via loan, holiday jobs and the odd top up from us.
Yes debt will be incurred thats life now rightly or wrongly.

The loans are currently just over £3000 for fees & the maximum maintenance loan is around £4600 (£6400 in London) DS (and DD next year) can only get 75% of the maximum loan because of our income, so we are topping it up, but a lot of parents can't afford to do this - one of DS's housemates is in this position and spends more time working than she can really spare from her studies to keep herself at university.

So DS & DD will come out of university with debts of around £20,000 each plus interest which is already building up. They will start paying when they earn more than £15000.

It's not interest free either which a lot of people seem to think - it's supposedly "linked to the rate of inflation in line with the Retail Prices Index: this means that the amount you pay back will have broadly the same value as the amount you have borrowed" - last year it was 2.4%, but in September it suddenly jumped to 4.8% - which is interesting as the government's own figurefor the RPI at that time was 3.9%

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DD1 has just finished University. She dud take out a loan and had a part time job but that wasn't enough to fund her completly.
So it has cost her and us about £20000 to get her through university. We have paid about half of that.