Student Loans, Financing degree studies

**formant** · 9 January 2013, 15:07

It's only been a few years since I finished uni. £1900 per term in halls is a bit excessive. Renting in a private flatshare is cheaper. I suggest he gets himself a part-time job.

I did uni without student loans and had approx 600 quid/month in support from my parents. I worked 20-30hrs a week to top that up to something easy to live-off. I could have lived off no more than 16hrs/week worth of income, but I liked to earn and spend a bit more. Made me very employable post-university. My then-other-half got around 500 quid/month in student loans and bursaries and also topped it up working with no parental funding. Worked well for him.

The masters was pricier, due to the tuition fees (I did my undergrad in Scotland as an EU citizen, so no tuition fees then). I'm still self-funding my part-time PhD while contracting cause I research in a niche interdepartmental area that doesn't get research council funding.

It's all do-able.

For the kids we intend to obtain a buy-to-let wherever they end up going to uni and have their friends/flatmates pay rent to aid with mortgage (if it's not a cash purchase by then). Emergencies aside, I expect them to cope with living costs through student loans and part-time work.

I'm a big fan of the UK student loans arrangement and their lack of impact on credit score, etc. It's the sort of debt you shouldn't fear, considering you're not paying anything back if you're not earning an okay salary.

**mudskipper** · 9 January 2013, 15:11

Originally posted by Scrag Meister View Post

My son, is a mature student, 22, and started a law degree in September.

His rent each term, in halls is £1980 all in.
His entire SLC maintenance loan is £1200 per term. WTF, doesn't maintain much then.

On top of this he needs to eat, pay for books (not cheap), washing (occasionally

) etc...

The workload is pretty heavy and he is located in a small town with very little opportunity for a part-time job.

I am confused as to how someone whose father isn't a contractor can afford to study at all.

You hear how the total debt burden on finishing Uni is like £50k.

At the current rate it'll be £27k Tuition, £10.8k maintenance loan and £18k from me over the 3 years.

Any other folks experiencing this and how are your kids coping with this financial pressure?

Yep, daughter's at uni. Halls is £105 per week - and there was me thinking Brum would be cheaper. That doesn't include food etc, but they do have a kitchen thing. She'll probably rent privately with her new buddies for the second year. Have considered the buying option, but she's probably not going to want to stay in the area when she's finished her studies.

**MyUserName** · 9 January 2013, 15:25

I think the finance situation for students absolutely sucks and wish that degree courses were free if they were useful to industry and the student was clever enough. Anything else could be charged for.

I was in the last year that got a grant and a loan and there were no tuition fees. Cash was still in short supply and I joined the TAs, worked as a cashier in a petrol station (horrible job) and extended the dates of my work placement - absolutely anything I could do. I ended up about 7k in debt and thought I had it bad! I should have been grateful!

Although back then only one person in our school got straight As at A level and she went to Oxford to do Chemical Engineering or something, she had also pretty much gotten As for every other exam she had ever sat.

My daughter has 15 years left before this becomes relevant so I am already saving!

**northernladuk** · 9 January 2013, 15:43

Originally posted by Scrag Meister View Post

The workload is pretty heavy and he is located in a small town with very little opportunity for a part-time job.

I imagine it is. Getting wasted 5 nights out of 7, not so wasted on the other 2. Dossing around all day recovering from hangover and going shopping in the designer shops during the day. Socialising 24x7 and putting the world to rights. Hard to fit anything in to that busy schedule

**Spacecadet** · 9 January 2013, 17:41

Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

I imagine it is. Getting wasted 5 nights out of 7, not so wasted on the other 2. Dossing around all day recovering from hangover and going shopping in the designer shops during the day. Socialising 24x7 and putting the world to rights. Hard to fit anything in to that busy schedule

You missed out trying to **** every pretty little thing that crosses his field of vision

**northernladuk** · 9 January 2013, 21:49

Originally posted by Spacecadet View Post

You missed out trying to **** every pretty little thing that crosses his field of vision

Must be a better life being a student now than in my day. Pretty wasn't a factor. Avoiding the Shagless Teeshirt award that had to be worn by the person in the group that had gone longest without a shag was number 1 priority.

**Robinho** · 10 January 2013, 00:03

Nothing in this world is free.

Apart from AndyW's mum.

**NotAllThere** · 10 January 2013, 06:37

Originally posted by northernladuk View Post

I imagine it is. Getting wasted 5 nights out of 7, not so wasted on the other 2. Dossing around all day recovering from hangover and going shopping in the designer shops during the day. Socialising 24x7 and putting the world to rights.

In the days of full grants, that would be excellent news - to know that our taxes were not in any way being wasted. I can't think of a better way of spending them.

I pay £500 per semester for my son's university fees, and he lives at home. But in Switzerland, only 11% of kids go to university, so it can be all be heavily subsidised out of taxes. So we help out my niece in the UK, who's from a low income family. If she didn't get extra help, she'd simply be maxing out the loans, as most other students do.

Student Loans, Financing degree studies