Grants, loans, fees etc... a rant

Jersy

this is just something that peeves me off..

[rant]

I come from a family wer until recently my father was a senior lecturer and now works part time as a lecturer. My mother doesnt work

what my rant is that in my uni class i am the ONLY person to pay full fees. well i get something like £40 off them but that is immaterial.

THere is one other individual who is 23, has a 8 year old son and has already been on holiday once this year, is going away in the summer and is going away again in January.

My point on this matter is.. she pays NOTHING for her fees. Gets a grant AND gets a loan. Her family dont work. Now this may just be me thinking unfairly. but the part of the country shes from.. most people dont work. and those that do often do the double.

im know ive started 2 go off topic so ill finish off soon. But there was another instance wer another girl didnt get a grant, and she came out with..

but i have to pay a loan back

!!!!!!????

this realy gets to me!!!

[/rant over]

sorry

Karnam

she has an 8 yr old son! surely you understand that means she has bigger costs than you (who i assume doesnt have a child) do? and as you get so little means tested help, one can assume that your parents are helping you out and that this individual is forced to fund herself, and her child without the help of her parents.

i never went on holiday with my student loan (old style, fees are only 1000 cause of when i started) but i had a higher standard of living than my sister who has the same loan as me, but goes on holiday every holiday and most reading weeks. you can't make assumsations based on where she lives blah blah blah. the loans and fees system has nothing to do with where you live (so lnog as its england, or scotland etc. etc) and how high employment is in that area.

Karnam

plus if her family dont work, they cant help her out, wheras your parents can...

Jersy

you dont understand m8.

the area does not work through choice. they play the system.

I understand that her costs her higher than mine. but thats not the point im making

wirm

Welcome to the site Jersy. It can be very unfair but the whole thing is that your parents are expected to be paying your fees for you. I have friends who are in the same situation as you, and they get nothing from their parents. They have to work all the hours they can to get some money and a lot of the time that isn't enough. Only for his loan, he wouldn't be able to go to uni.

Do you not get a loan?

raa_thistle

The basic loan doesnt usually cover course fees and accomodation though.

I get the basic loan of ~£3100. Fees are £1175, and accomodation costs me £50.41 per week, totalling £2621.63.

This brings my grand total of unavoidable costs to £3796.63, almost a £700 defecit, and that is without food, heating, books etc.

The loan does not cover anything like the cost of going to university.

Crispy_Ambulance

The loan is not intended to cover fees - if your parents have been assessed to pay them then nobody else is going to do so. The loan is not enough to live on as it is and students should not be paying their fees out of it as well. However some parents won't pay and there is no way of forcing them to do so.

raa_thistle

I don't see why parents should be expected to pay. The "kids" are usually 18 or older so no longer kids really. I just think it is wrong to expect the parents to stump up the cash. Students who want to be independent are then penalised with lower loan amounts and higher fees.

raa_thistle

doesn't really help the thousands at university now though does it? I do prefer the new system where you can get a loan, but as i say, it doesn't help those currently studying unfortunately.

muddled_midget

AddieH wrote:

But they won't be from 2006/07 as full-time students will be entitled to a loan for fees as well regardless of income - repayable after graduation and earning over £15,000.

This is true, but why are the tuition fees for next year still means tested on parents income? I am a pharmacy student, and as such expect a decent wage when I graduate, but from next year, a pharmacy student will pay back less for their tuition fees if they come from a poor background than someone with wealthy parents who goes into a less well paid but equally important job, despite the fact that when it comes to time to repay the parents are out of the equation and the situations are completely reversed?
Sorry that's my little rant over on top-up fees...

Jersy

thing is rite. im 2 proud 2 ask my parents for money.

since i got my first job aged 16, i have not asked for money unless i knew i could pay them back within a matter of days.