Teen wants an education I cannot afford, what are our options?

[AmandaKris]

I need some help. my kid wants an education that I cannot afford. what do i do?

My DD wants a tertiary education that we can’t afford. I’ve told her that her options are a) take a gap year during which she can work and save up enough money for it or b) just don’t do it, choose a different education pathway instead. Looks like she’s going to choose b) so she obviously doesn’t want to do it that badly!

What type of education?! How old is your child? If my teenager came to me wanting to go to a private school. The answer would be 'We can't afford to send you, so it's a No'.

The volcano?

Identity theft is the obvious answer. Hope this helps. 😁

Is that you Meghan?

Gosh, people are being mean to the OP, who probably posted in the middle of a sleepless night. More details please, and I'm sure there are enough decent people on here to try to help.

I suspect this is related to university now that the government has made it so difficult for people - and there have been some good suggestions here among the rubbish. Children can survive university by self funding, with government loans. Whether it's worth it is another matter (OU/Birkbeck are possible alternatives while working).

Is that it?

You need to expand on this.

Unless she literally opened an eye, typed a single sentence and fell back to sleep, that seems unlikely.

I'm assuming you're talking about a private school, @OP?

As a previous poster said, I longed to go to Malory Towers or one of the other wonderful, fictitious schools that I'd read about but knew that it wasn't possible, put my head down and survived (barely) the local secondary.

I'm lucky - my generation still received grants. Had my parents been a bit more savvy, there was actually a union related bursary I'm certain that I could have had.

I only got the grant because Mum's sister had already put one child through uni and explained to Mum that she had to fill in the form for me to get a grant. (Mum: "But they want to know all our business! They shouldn't be asking that!)

Perhaps explain that - unfortunately - a private school isn't an option unless a bursary is available and that it's time to look into finances for university now. That includes exploring whether any bursaries are available: time for your teen to start Googling and to think about weekend jobs.

And I wanted to go to Malory Towers.

I went to the local comp instead.

Oh I see others have mentioned Malory Towers 😂

If your sprog isn't bright enough for a scholarship and you don't qualify for a bursary then a state school it is. It's not the end of the world.

If you mean university then someone's going to have to work to cover their accommodation and take out a student loan.

This is if you're in the UK that is. If you're in the US then presumably it's similar but said sprog will have to study and work harder.

What do you do?
You tell them no, you dont have the money unfortunately.

I thank Malory Towers for warning me to check that I hadn't sat on invisible chalk when I worked as a teacher.

Crumb of context for the poor, sir?

Same here. I went to school where all the girls had ponies and went on exotic holidays abroad. They had cars at the earliest age. I was firmly told no...you cant have a horse or a car or a dog. Had to make do making a fuss of a goldfish.

Tell them no.

The end.

I think most of us understand that most futures can be achieved through hard work, talent and application rather than just through private schooling.

Tell them no. They can't always have what they want

Yup.

There was no chance of a private education for me: Mum and Dad gave me everything they had, but Dad was a coal miner; Mum had been in service and in factory work and was constrained by the need to provide care for elderly family members.

I went to the local secondary school and they did what they could to support me through uni.

😀Well yes (climbed it) and the area of Cotopaxi nat park in general

If your child is academically capable look at schools with full scholarship,like Christ's Hospital,other public schools often have bursaries,but they rarely cover the whole cost.

@CoventryCity I thought I'd ask as there's some website selling outdoor stuff with the same name.

You didn't get all the way up to the top, did you - all nineteen thousand feet of it?

ha ha. No we stopped when the real snow /ice started

I in my 50s. I rarely asked for anything because I knew this was the case. As an adult. I regularly have to tell myself this. We can't always have what we want