In England, how the hell do kids afford to a uni away from home?

[ssd]

the course fee's are horrendous for a start

and going by MN, most kids go to uni away from home so need rent etc

it must cost a fortune

we're in Scotland and the fees are free and we are near to lots of uni's so ds will hopefully stay at home as we can't afford anything else

really feel for the English kids

Someone more experienced will come along and explain better than me (my DD hopefully going next year), but the fees get paid back when the student graduates and starts earning, say £22K per annum, and even then it's a minuscule amount every month that they hardly notice. The accommodation is how it's always been, so no different from decades ago.

Oops, posted too soon!
Paying for accommodation is different for every family. My DH was at Uni in the 80s, and funded himself through 2 p/t jobs on top of his degree course (as his parents gave him no financial support.)
Can't see mine doing that!!

Funny OP I fee sorry for the kids that go to university but stay at home to do so - seems to me they're missing out on a massive part of the whole university experience!

Don't forget they get maintenance loans - and those from low income backgrounds get more.

I remember the 'good old days' when students from middling income families got nothing in the way of a grant and HAD to reply on parental help (and a bit of help from HMRC - anyone remember deeds of covenant?)

Tuition fees are paid upfront by SFE and then paid back when the student earns over 21k, at a non commercial rate. It's not treated like "real debt" for other borrowing purposes, like mortgages, and most people only pay a chunk of their's back. It disappears when you retire.
Rent and bills are covered by loans and (currently) grants. Students can borrow up to 7k a year to live on (10k if they're in London, more if they have children or disabilities). This has to last from October till June, as most students go home over the summer. This is treated the same as tuition fee debt.
Have you looked at SAAS? The amount that your DS could borrow is similar to what students in England can, depending on household income. He should be able to study where he likes, without money worries, even if you have a low income.

I agree that they do benefit hugely from going away to study. My ds has just finished 2nd year and is much more independent than he was when he went away.

Financially it is expensive. His maintenance loan is £3.5k per annum and the rent alone is £5,600. I've paid the rent and he manages on the loan being dripfed at £80 during term time, and I fund him in the holidays. He does work in the Army Reserve but it's quite bitty and either a feast or a famine so I don't really factor that in to the budget.

I didnt realise that the student loan to help pay rent was counted in the same way as fees? is it paid back in the same way then?

we have a low income and having looked at SAAS he would get a loan of £5795 and a bursary of £500, is there a grant on top of this or is the bursary the grant?

Yes, living expenses loans are counted and paid back the same way that tuition fee loans are.
I'm not hugely familiar with SAAS, but for an income of between 25 and 35k, about 6.5/7k in loans/bursaries sounds about right. Remember, that unis also offer grants/scholarships/funds to top that up in some cases (usually where some degree of hardship can be demonstrated and the "better" the uni the more generous the money...) and the students nearly all come home in the summer so it doesn't have to last for a whole year as well.
It isn't as scary as it first seems, there is help available

I just hate debt, and that amount terrifies me

This is sometimes a bit difficult for people to understand. It's a slightly odd system and it could be handled in a much better way. It's like this. Effectively, Student finance isn't "real debt". It isn't going to affect your DS' future life, even if he never works and so doesn't pay a penny of it back. It can't affect mortgages or other loans. If he loses his job and is unemployed for a while he simply stops paying. If he gets ill and can't work he stops paying. No defaults, no debt collectors, no worries. It's collected through HMRC/PAYE and so it gets treated like tax-basically, it's a graduate tax for reasonably high income earners.

Dd is going and gets a sizeable maintenance grant.
Can't wait......

I went to uni nearly 10 years ago () and had a loan which paid the uni fee plus went towards rent, books, food, going out etc. In my first year my mum helped me out, after that I got a part time job. Friends who didn't work generally had their whole rent paid by parents and used the loan for everything else.

thats interesting

how much is paid back at a time eg if he has £25k of student debt, how much would that be to pay back if he gets a job over 22k?

I think it's 9% of salary over £21k regardless of the total amount owing. OS yes, almost exactly like tax.

so if he took home £2000 a month he'd pay back nearly £200?

thats a lot!

No, if he earned £22k he would pay 9% of £1000 spread over 12 months. Not much at all, really.

It isn't real debt.

Real debts get cancelled by bankruptcy but student debts are exempt from this.

It really is a graduate tax system but the electorate didn't like the sound of that so they disguised a graduate tax system but dressed it up and called it debt.

It really shouldn't put anyone off taking out student loans. That'd be as daft as saying 'don't work-you'll have to pay tax in the future'!

I worked two jobs and didn't get a penny off my parents

To this day I am so happy I did it myself. Really value how to manage my money, stand up for myself, have the best memories of my life.

If I stayed at home I wouldn't have had the confidence to do anything - form adult relationships (quite restrictive parents).

I felt with 10,000 student loans in 2000.

left

Its true a lot of people don't seem to understand student loans are not like other debts and fees although it is an outrage they are so high are not paid upfront.

SL do affect the size of mortgage you can get but other than that they are not like other debts.

There are changes coming to maintenance grants though since the budget. This is likely to mean that kids from lower income families who parents cannit sub rent and who would have previously relied on bursary to help, will instead have larger loans. So will probably take longer to pay them off if/when working.

How would his take home pay be £2000 a month on a salary of £22k?

As tadjenny says he pays 9% on earnings over £21k per year, so 9% of £1000 is £90 which works out at the grand total of £7.50 a month. Or three cappucinos

If he earns £35k a year, he'd have to pay 9% of £14k which is £1260 a year, so £105 a month.

We're in Wales and my sister pays out £600 / month for here daughter to live near uni. She only had basic assistance for living plus loans for fees - £6000 a year /3year course. My niece works an evening job 20hrs a week go chip in with the cost.

The first 21,000 isn't counted, so everything over 21,000- 9% is paid back, over 12 months.

So if someone earns 25,000 they would pay 9% of 4,000 each year. That's £360 a year- £30 a month.

I have DD1 hoping to go this year. Lots of info on Higher Education board.

Also found this quite useful.

I'm running payrolls at the moment, and someone earning £2000 gross per month is paying £49 per month repayments. On £1750 per month (so £21k pa) the repayments are £27.

myvisions - they'll be on the old scheme. Students who started from 2012 onward are under the new scheme and repayments are lower - please don't put people off by spreading the wrong info!