Help With Student Loans - HERE!

collingwood21

When I was student, most people took their student loan cheque and paid it into their current account - and then left it there earning paltry rates of interest. I paid mine into a high interest, instant access savings account, then just moved a small amount into my current account each week as I needed it. This method not only helped my weekly budgeting, it also meant I earned a bit of interest so I had a bit more money overall - and every penny counts when you are a student.

jamescredmond

just a quick q (and sorry if it's been asked before):

my son took out a st.loan in 2006 (sept.)

he bunked the course and now owes £2500.

the interest rate at the time was low (3.2%?) but I see it now stands higher (4.8%?).

my q is this: is he liable for the higher rate or has his loan been 'locked in' at the lower rate?

thanks for any help.

Helix

jamescredmond wrote: »

just a quick q (and sorry if it's been asked before):

my son took out a st.loan in 2006 (sept.)

he bunked the course and now owes £2500.

the interest rate at the time was low (3.2%?) but I see it now stands higher (4.8%?).

my q is this: is he liable for the higher rate or has his loan been 'locked in' at the lower rate?

thanks for any help.

The interest rate changes at the rate of inflation. Its set for the year to whatever the RPI is in March. Your son agreed to pay the changing interest rates when he took out the loan, its in the terms and conditions. It will go down to 3.8% this year though.

mishelly

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know how long does it usually take for the SLC to process a student loan application? I am due to enrol at university but dont want to sign up officially and become responsible for fees if i havent had any confirmation of whether or not i am going to get it.

Wiggynut

mishelly wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know how long does it usually take for the SLC to process a student loan application? I am due to enrol at university but dont want to sign up officially and become responsible for fees if i havent had any confirmation of whether or not i am going to get it.

depends on when you applied and if you are income assessed (ie; parents or partner income to assess)

I applied the first day you could (march) and none of the LA's could actually access any of the applications for 2 months!
once they started that then it took a month and half for mine in total (mature student, no income) - got the payment scedule recently.
I also took my ID by hand to the LA.

I think SLC was on the news the other day with errors with Grants but I only caught the tail end of the story - also I'm not sure if they get busier near the Uni start dates!

have you tried calling them - be prepared to be on the line waiting for them to answer!

you'll be able to enrole with the agreement letter when they send it to you... as long as you have something with your details showing you SLC will pay your fees - I think the Uni's are understanding with late payments with SLC too.

mishelly

Thanks!

I only applied few weeks ago and i am a mature student with income to assess (kinda) so i dont think it should take too long. I live across the road from the LEA so took all my id and wage slips in by hand on the same day but they havent acknowledged receipt yet and i am getting a bit worried. I only have the next 10 days to enrol and i havent received any correspondence from the slc and am wondering whether uni will let me enrol or not

I do have my uni and ucas confirmation though and all my uni stuff through but i dont know what they will need for the enrolment process.

I will try and phone the slc on Monday (or are they open weekends?) but i am not holding out much hope on speaking to a real person!

welshchick_2

Hi all

I am 28 and am going to uni this year to do my BA Hons in Youth and Community Studies, i work for a local authority who are paying my fee's. It will be a full time course over three years but it is only one day a week, i have a job which will count towards my fieldwork so will still be earning approx £17500 per year. My question is would i be entitled to any student loans, grants etc?

Many thanks

Hayley

sfm82

welshchick wrote: »

Hi all

I am 28 and am going to uni this year to do my BA Hons in Youth and Community Studies, i work for a local authority who are paying my fee's. It will be a full time course over three years but it is only one day a week, i have a job which will count towards my fieldwork so will still be earning approx £17500 per year. My question is would i be entitled to any student loans, grants etc?

Many thanks

Hayley

You could just apply for the loan and see if you get it but why would you want to get yourself into unecessary debt if you are going to be earning £17500 a year while you study?

u47mm3

Hi everyone,

I am currently studying for an MSc in Real Estate Management and is a one year course which began in Feb 08 and finishes Apr 09. My problem is that because this is the first year that the course has run, SAAS 'will not cover tuition fees for courses during the first year of them running' and so I have been asked to pay tuition fees for the course of around £3200. I have currently paid for half of these fees but I am not sure if I can afford the rest.

Being a Scottish student who has studied in Scotland, I have had my tuition fees for my 4 year BSc paid for me by SAAS. During my 4th year of study, I unfortunately had to drop out of my final year due to a family matter. I managed to leave with a BSc but without honours and was told by my advisor at the time that if I was to return to university, I could do so without having to pay my first set of tuition fees because I dropped out less than half way through 4th year.

I am just asking for some advice as to what I should do now. My initial plan was to apply for a student loan or a bursary to cover the 2nd half of my fees but I was told by SAAS that postgraduates cannot apply for either of these. I will have to contact SAAS during the next week or so to see if they will pay for the 2nd half of my tuition fees (as I feel I am entitled to them, and was told so by my advisor at the time). But since I last phoned SAAS, I have lost confidence and I am worried that if I say the wrong thing then they will reject me on the spot and that could put me in a perilous position financially.

Am I doing the right thing? Any tips for the (dreaded) phone call?

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks very much.
M

Oldernotwiser

Student loans aren't available for postgraduate courses anywhere in the UK. I don't know why you think that you should be the exception.