Advice please: if/how to fund my sons' uni studies
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Ray_Singh-Blue
Posts: 507 Forumite
Hello, after some advice please, especially from current / recent students. Or perhaps from parents of current students.
I find myself parent to some teenagers, and the eldest is looking at universities. it appears that the world has moved on a bit since I was a student. I suspect the next generation of Singh's experiences will be a little different -and more expensive- than mine were.
I love the idea that my kids/young adults might graduate with no debt, as I did. However I'm not sure if that's realistic ambition for our family financially. I'm interested to know how much it costs to live as a student in 2016/17 and how common it is for parents to fund either living expenses, tuition fees, or both?
My gut feeling is that we will probably fund our student offspring's living expenses while they will take out loans to cover tuition. Along side this, we envisage saving on their behalf. When they graduate they may choose to use some of this money to pay back student loans, or as a deposit on a flat, or for whatever purpose they choose actually as it will become their money.
How does that sound as a plan?
Strange, I bllnked and over twenty five years seem to have elapsed since I was a student. But here's how I remember the finances working:
- There were no tuition fees.
- I got a grant from the government for about £1000 per term.
- From this I paid to live in a hall of residence which cost about £600 per term and the rest I spent on beer, I mean textbooks.
- Perhaps my parents chipped in too although I think this mainly took the form of food parcels and train tickets home.
- I had no mobile phone and no computer (nobody did), no subscriptions, no insurance, basically a very cheap life. I did however have a bike, a CD player, some CDs mainly Nirvana, and a denim jacket.
- I graduated with no money and no debt. When I started work my first pay check was about £1000 and I felt rich as a king.
Times change eh? They are going to have to be a lot cleverer than I was.
Cheers RSB
I find myself parent to some teenagers, and the eldest is looking at universities. it appears that the world has moved on a bit since I was a student. I suspect the next generation of Singh's experiences will be a little different -and more expensive- than mine were.
I love the idea that my kids/young adults might graduate with no debt, as I did. However I'm not sure if that's realistic ambition for our family financially. I'm interested to know how much it costs to live as a student in 2016/17 and how common it is for parents to fund either living expenses, tuition fees, or both?
My gut feeling is that we will probably fund our student offspring's living expenses while they will take out loans to cover tuition. Along side this, we envisage saving on their behalf. When they graduate they may choose to use some of this money to pay back student loans, or as a deposit on a flat, or for whatever purpose they choose actually as it will become their money.
How does that sound as a plan?
Strange, I bllnked and over twenty five years seem to have elapsed since I was a student. But here's how I remember the finances working:
- There were no tuition fees.
- I got a grant from the government for about £1000 per term.
- From this I paid to live in a hall of residence which cost about £600 per term and the rest I spent on beer, I mean textbooks.
- Perhaps my parents chipped in too although I think this mainly took the form of food parcels and train tickets home.
- I had no mobile phone and no computer (nobody did), no subscriptions, no insurance, basically a very cheap life. I did however have a bike, a CD player, some CDs mainly Nirvana, and a denim jacket.
- I graduated with no money and no debt. When I started work my first pay check was about £1000 and I felt rich as a king.
Times change eh? They are going to have to be a lot cleverer than I was.
Cheers RSB
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Comments
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If you read the links at the top of the page you'll be better informed on the current student finance process. It's likely that you will be expected to provide some money towards living expenses, whether you choose to pay more than the recommended amount and reduce the loan amount requested is up to you but you really need to understand what type of borrowing student loans are before making that decision.0
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Just be very careful about which universities your sons look at. The fees for universities all tend to be about the same but you get very different levels of education for your money. The top universities offer education levels that lead to degrees that are sought after by employers. The rest offer watered down degree courses that lead to degrees that are not what would have traditionally been a graduate level of education. The students who have degrees from top universities are better educated and their degrees give them more options than the watered down variety. Many of the watered down degrees do not lead to graduate level employment.
The watered down degrees were introduced when a government decided that a certain percentage of young people should attend university. Because most universities charge students the same to study you might want to check very carefully what your sons are going to get for their money.0 -
Well the first thing that needs to happen (if it hasn't already) is that your son needs to get a job. Most students do. Mine works a Saturday (and extra hours over Christmas etc) in a shop and is fortunate enough to work for an employer who pays all staff the same regardless of age. Without that income - they would be having a very tough time of it as I don't have the spare to provide much. However, even if I did have the financial means to provide more, I would expect my student to work as much as possible without eating into study time.
Read MSE's guide to student loans and whether they should be paid off by family gifts - it doesn't always make the most sense to pay them off early.
Your son should apply for all student loans available to him and even with them, student overdrafts and parental help are still needed by many.
Teaching good budgeting skills is also one of the best helping hands you can give him.0
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