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?

"Out of interest, for those of you who have been through this, is there an average amount you think it has cost you?"

1. The current fees are about £3,100 a year x 3 years. There is no need to pay those until you start earning (although I have been able to pay them for my children). So this one is potentially 0

1. If they live at home there is no rent. If they live in hall it is about £4000 a year I think. My daughter's share of the rent on a house is about £312 a month which I pay. So 0 if they live at home and about £4k x 3 years if they rent.

1. They need to eat. They can get jobs for that. Mine have done things like bar work and working in holiday resorts in the Caribbean all summer etc. A lot of parents do pay them something to help out but entirely up to the parents. We are reasonably well off and I have paid them £100 a week weekly. They have a lot of much richer friends but I'm sure the £100 is a very good deal. It is an agreement we reached that if they graduated without debts and student loans then I would fund them at university.

because Labour introduced these fees you now have childrne of the rich like mine graduting without debt and children of the poor graduating with lots of debt. That neer happened in 1979 when I went to university and there were no fees but then only 15% of people went, not 50% as now.

God no. I want my children to move away to university. And I say that living near a very well-renowned seat of learning...

I would like to think that my children will work in the holidays (as I did), end up in a certain amount of debt (as I did), but not the tens of thousands that it is likely to cost when they are of an age to go. They'll have some savings, and we'll give them some too. As my parents did for me.

i was the only person in my family to attend Uni. family unable to contribute financially. i grew up in a council scheme.money was Very tight.i worked & paid my own way through uni.

i am not the only person to have done so
it can be done

as an adult and student you also have to contribute and support yourself too. some parents would love to support but unfortunately financially cannot

unfortunately the debts incurred are huge for many students

the disparity is that vocational public sector jobs eg NHS, SW, Teaching are not well paid and debts accrued are harder to clear

'the idea that to be a student you have to move as far as you possibly can away from home is a bit outdated and extravagant imo'

I agree. When I first moved to Europe I discovered that many students lived at home unless they were doing a course that wasn't offered nearby.

Seems to make sense.

Moot point for us, though.

DD1 will not go to university and if DD2 does, she needs to find a way to pay for it herself.

So i'm looking at around £20k per child to get through university.
we don't live in a city so wherever they went they would have to rent. I accept they would have to work and part fund themselves. just makes me sad that they will be starting adult life with huge debts. is it worth it? should they consider other options now?

(and student loans are not interest free and have to start paying back at quite a low salary)

Lots of girls on my course are still living at home (in bham)

They still manage to 'live la vida loca' with the non-home students.

I don't think it is always worth it, but there is a great disdain for more practical courses. When I was younger you had to work really hard to get into UNI now there are courses on everything from womens studies to fashion, and of varying quality and standards. Some courses I have come accross are almost GCSE level in skill. I'd be dubious it's a heck of a lot of money to come away with not much skill, not much chance of a grad job and a ton of debt if you ask me.

I'm not paying 30k for my dd to get pissed up for 3 years and come away with a 3rd in Fashion.

oh noey no

My daughter's starting salary on qualification will be £65k a year at least and if she stays at that place the people at the top earn £1m a year. So yes I do think it's worth it. Been worth every penny I've paid from the private nursery school, then day school to the university. But I would also think it worth it if she'd decided on graduation to milk cows or join a convent. I educated her for life, not just for careers.

Whereas on the contrary if my dd wanted to study a degree that didn't enhance her either intellectually or vocationally I would question the point. There are other routes to vocations other than via a degree as with everything you have to ascertain the value of it. I chose a degree that didn't have a direct vocation but it was one of the worlds best courses at that time, I was passionate about the subject and the skills I have learnt have stood me in good stead. I would question a degree in milking. But then I don't have money to throw at it.

It could be a politician 20k but all expenses paid ..

It could be a politician 20k but all expenses paid ..

Student loans are not interest free - you start paying interest as soon as you get the loan - last academic year it was 2.4%, that went up to 4.8% last September.

If anyone's interested in the finance that is available, try here - but don't expect it to be simple to follow.....

Both the DCs have a savings fund that we pay into every month (DS fund manager type person who knows what to invest in so he did it!)- they have also been left a substantial amount by relatives in the past and that is also in there for them so hopefully by the time they are going to think about university we will have it covered - they will still be expected to work though.

I only did one year at uni and then dropped out but my parents funded what the government didn't.
They made my grant up to a full one, I got the full loan and they often sent me more money plus sent me back each term with a ridiculous amount of food.
I squandered all the money and uni was a waste of time for me, I wanted to travel, parents pushed me into uni so not all my fault.
My Dad admits it was a big mistake pushing me into it.

Anyway, it depends on my situation whether I'll be able to help DD through, in my current situation then no, not at all. If I can then maybe but not the way I was "helped"
My Dad is leaving enough in trust for her when she's 21 to pay off her debts (his words) so although she may have to fund herself, won't necesarily end with debt hanging over her.

xenia lives in cloud cuckoo land and has neither empathy nor sympathy for anyone who doesn't live that way.few graduates earn 65k and in fact few people do which is why thw national average wage is 25k ish

"most people on the course saw the classes as an inconvenience between drinking sessions"

That's exactly what I did, I didn't want to do futher education although I loved being at Uni because my parents gave me money to stay there and were not happy when I dropped out. They would have funded 3 years of doing that just to have me in Uni and not at home.
I did go home, they reluctantly accepted me and I did what I wanted to do in the first place, travel.
My Dad really does admit now that the mistake they made was not listening to me and pushing me out the door at 18.
I hope I never treat DD the same way and support her choices and if she goes to Uni out of choice and I can give her a bit extra then I will.
I won't pay her to get rid of her though which is what happenned to me

PMSL my sister has a first from Oxford and started on £14k a year.
Still think Uni is worthwhile but mine will be self funding as I was. I shall pay their debts off at the end of their course but they won't know that as I believe they will be a lot more frugal with money they think needs to be paid back by them than hand outs from me.

Her friend started on £65k on graduation as a banker but he's exceptional in every way and worked for that bank every holiday for 3 years. Her salary is on further qualification as someone else picked up on above (and she hasn't finished her exams yet so may not have passed!).

example
business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1699630.ece
www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9487141

Plenty of people go to university and end up secretaries in London which they may as well have done at 16 from leaving school.

But even though daughter 2 may do similar I don't have any preconceived plans for any of the 5 children. I've given them an education which enables them to make their own career choices. My son graduates next year and unless we can find him a job overthrowing governments and corruption I am not sure what else he is suited for.

He could go and work for the EU, Xenia