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Secondary education

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Original poster

If you pay for private school fees will you pay uni fees?

127 replies

Allotment123 · 09/09/2023 20:58

As the title says, if you pay private school fees will you pay for uni fees, tuition and maintenance for your kids? On a combined income of about £90K and wondering if it was feasible? People say they'd rather save for a house deposit, but do they actually save it? Really hate the idea of my kids starting life in debt

OP posts:
NewIdeasToday · 09/09/2023 21:04

Yes we did.

Floralnomad · 09/09/2023 21:09

We did private , state grammar and then paid for uni . Our son is very appreciative that he started his working life with a savings buffer and no debt. I know it’s not recommended by the financial bods to pay upfront but it worked for us .

VanCleefArpels · 09/09/2023 21:10

We did - it was waaaaay cheaper, we could afford it and it means our now graduate kids have no loans to repay. We had been paying fees for the thick end of 20 years between them (Nursery to 6th form x2) so no difference to keep paying for 3 more years.

However I know of many families who don’t do this even when they could easily afford it on the grounds that the money has to stop at some point. Which is an equally valid position

Labraradabrador · 09/09/2023 21:10

We aim to. Grandparents also putting money into a junior ISA, which would also be there for uni (or house deposit) in case of change in circumstances

JanesBlond · 09/09/2023 21:12

I know people who did this, or at a minimum paid all maintenance so the DC only needed the tuition loan. But if it’s a question of whether to pay for uni or give a deposit, I’d absolutely go the deposit route. It’s much more valuable IMO - student loan repayments are fairly low and the savings they’d get on their salary from not having them would not be enough to get on the property ladder much quicker.

Penguinsmum · 09/09/2023 21:26

Yes we will. As we are used to paying £18k per year so we might as well carry it for another few years!!

lunar1 · 09/09/2023 21:29

If we can still afford it we will, we are used to the payments.

MintJulia · 09/09/2023 21:31

No, probably not. I'll retire when DS finishes his A'levels.

His dad may pay his fees or if I downsize I suppose I might, but it isn't in the plan. To be honest, I'm concentrating on getting DS through school for now.

ApolloandDaphne · 09/09/2023 21:35

We did and our DDs have no student loans to pay back.

lakeshone · 09/09/2023 21:36

Yes, we will. We have enough assets that we can afford to, and we won't spend that much so it would just end up being taxed if we waited until we died to pass it on to dc. We will give them a house deposit too (for same tax reasons).

I think under the older student loan system it might not have made financial sense, but the interest rates are fairly significant now, and I think psychologically it would feel better not to have the debt.

Anneta · 09/09/2023 21:37

We paid the tuition fees up front but then settled the student loan later when my son and his wife were applying for a mortgage. It allowed them to borrow enough money for the house that they wished to purchased. The mortgage lender takes the student debt into account when decide on the amount of money they are prepared to lend.

Qilin · 09/09/2023 21:37

Allotment123 · 09/09/2023 20:58

As the title says, if you pay private school fees will you pay for uni fees, tuition and maintenance for your kids? On a combined income of about £90K and wondering if it was feasible? People say they'd rather save for a house deposit, but do they actually save it? Really hate the idea of my kids starting life in debt

We didn't and most people we know, from DD's school, didn't.

Glonda · 09/09/2023 21:45

Yes, but I'm beginning to wish I'd done more research into student loan interest and repayments. We can afford it, but it may be that getting the loans and saving/investing our money would have been a better financial decision. I made a choice based on gut feeling ("little DS mustn't have any debt!") and that's not a good way to do money.

Next year I will research it and may reconsider.

There's also the psychological factor: students may feel (literally) more invested in their degree and may be more mindful about spending money that they'll probably have to pay back. Plus it cuts some of the apron strings from Mum and Dad and gives them more independence as an adult.

You could always pay off their debt later, if you want...

PreplexJ · 09/09/2023 22:48

University student loan is not a normal loan, it is contingent on income. It should be considered as a financial decision on differnent options (such as house deposit contribution) if you have extra money to contribute to your DCs.

Ozziedream · 10/09/2023 06:00

We will, depending on the interest rates at the time. If we can make more money with the money invested they’ll take out loans that we can settle later on. If student loan interest rates still high, we’ll pay fees as we go.

2023usernameNew · 10/09/2023 06:13

Yes, we will.

DD on year 8 and we’ve started saving and putting money on ISAs and a couple of the high interest savings accounts out there at the moment.

whirlyhead · 10/09/2023 06:20

Don’t kids work evenings and weekends etc to earn money to pay their own way anymore? Lots of people did that when I was at uni.

Wildhorses2244 · 10/09/2023 06:31

No, I won’t. I’ll pay school fees because they’re children and choice of school is very much my decision.

Its really important to me that the kids grow to stand on their own two feet. So they’ll make the decision about whether to go to uni based on the fact that they’ll need a loan for tuition. I’ll support with maintenance costs but would expect them to work for fun money.

They have some inheritance which they could choose to use for this or for a house deposit if they wanted so it’s not a question of them having to get into debt which might make me feel differently about it.

Emilia35 · 10/09/2023 06:46

It would be much better to put the money in a savings account with high interest for your kids to spend on a deposit.

I took out student loans and it's not really a debt. I am not a high earner as work part time and pay back a small amount monthly. I don't pay anything when on maternity leave and my loan will be written off when I'm 46. My husband paid his off quite quickly as he did earn a lot but again, it wasn't too much per month and the interest on it was low. I'd have a good look at the current terms and work out what makes more sense financially (and bearing in mind if yours kids don't earn a lot after uni then they wouldn't pay it back and it would eventually get written off).

tennissquare · 10/09/2023 08:20

@Emilia35 , the terms for the loan have changed, from this Sept 23 students starting uni have to pay back over 40 years, the payback salary threshold has dropped to £25k and the interest rate is over 7% for the next year. Many students starting uni this month are anticipated to be still paying back their loan when their own dc start uni.

twistyizzy · 10/09/2023 08:20

Yes we are planning to but after the event ie DD will get student loan etc while she is at uni and then once she completes her degree we will then decide whether we pay it off or whether to put that money towards a deposit on first house.
I want her to feel the value of a degree through taking the student loan and probably having to work through uni also but I also don't want her saddled with debt long term.
At any rate after spending 7 years paying school fees, uni fees will be cheaper!!

Delphigirl · 10/09/2023 08:45

Yes paying/paid for all 4.
My kids always work and get jobs in the holidays too and they save this for a house deposit which we then match. So DD1 at 25, who came out of uni 4 years ago £10k in credit from summer jobs, has now saved £75k (on top of paying for her own masters she did while working) and with our matched contribution is buying a flat in London. No student debt to hamper her. DS2 is finishing his gap year after 6 months of travels with £7k savings from post-travel earnings.
We are fortunate to be able to do this for them but they absolutely understand the value of hard work.

ShanghaiDiva · 10/09/2023 08:49

whirlyhead · 10/09/2023 06:20

Don’t kids work evenings and weekends etc to earn money to pay their own way anymore? Lots of people did that when I was at uni.

we paid ds’s fees and he had two summer jobs, but didn’t work during term time.

PatChaunceysFruitCake · 10/09/2023 08:57

whirlyhead · 10/09/2023 06:20

Don’t kids work evenings and weekends etc to earn money to pay their own way anymore? Lots of people did that when I was at uni.

Well, yes, they do. Not going to cover the fees though is it?

Qilin · 10/09/2023 09:02

whirlyhead · 10/09/2023 06:20

Don’t kids work evenings and weekends etc to earn money to pay their own way anymore? Lots of people did that when I was at uni.

Parents are expected to top up the loans - if they get a basic loan, then parents are expected to top up to the higher level loan amount. Obviously this isn't mandatory or explicitly said, but it is an expectation where possible.

Working out during study is fine for some courses but much more difficult when doing others, which may include lengthy placements or lab time, for example.

We also made a decision together that we wanted dd to do relevant work experience during holidays, rather than paid part time work (unless it would have been relevant to her future plans) where possible. This worked for us.

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