Student Loan and PhD Funding

Moneysaver5_3

Hi there,

I am doing a fully funded PhD which pays about £16,500 per year.

As you have to pay back your student loan when you earn over £15,000, should I be paying back my student loan? Or does a stipend not count as a 'real' salary?

whitfreak

While you stipend is tax free, I believe it still counts as earnings as far as the SLC. But 9% over £15k in your case will only be £135 for the year. There will be extra payments should you get paid more to do lab supervisions, tutorials and alike.

Well done on getting a well funded place.

Just a side note, 3-4years down the line when you are job searching, do the maths on how much more you need to earn just to stand still, e.g. £16.5k stipend is worth around £22k taxed/NIed/SLC pay.

celyn90

In my experience no, as the stipend is often paid in quarterly increments as a bursary, not a wage.

I did pay mine back from my stipend, but it was on a voluntary basis - they certainly didn't ask for it.

MrsManda

One of my friends has a full time paid Phd earning about 17k a yr (as a salary monthly) but doesn't pay any tax or slc because he's classed as a student.

Moneysaver5_3

whitfreak wrote: »

While you stipend is tax free, I believe it still counts as earnings as far as the SLC. But 9% over £15k in your case will only be £135 for the year. There will be extra payments should you get paid more to do lab supervisions, tutorials and alike.

Well done on getting a well funded place.

Just a side note, 3-4years down the line when you are job searching, do the maths on how much more you need to earn just to stand still, e.g. £16.5k stipend is worth around £22k taxed/NIed/SLC pay.

Thanks for the congrats! I will earn about £1500 this academic year for tutorials and marking. I had worked out the 'stand still' wage a while ago! There are so many former PhD students who took a drop in wages with their first post-doc, but I know how much I will need to earn to be on the same amount, thank you.

celyn90 wrote: »

In my experience no, as the stipend is often paid in quarterly increments as a bursary, not a wage.

I did pay mine back from my stipend, but it was on a voluntary basis - they certainly didn't ask for it.

Mine is paid quarterly as well.

MrsManda wrote: »

One of my friends has a full time paid Phd earning about 17k a yr (as a salary monthly) but doesn't pay any tax or slc because he's classed as a student.

Yeah, I don't pay tax (oh bliss!) but I just wanted to be clear about the situation regarding student loans!

glider3560

MrsManda wrote: »

One of my friends has a full time paid Phd earning about 17k a yr (as a salary monthly) but doesn't pay any tax or slc because he's classed as a student.

Students pay tax just like everyone else. The funding for the PhD is tax-free so isn't subject to tax.

jennifernil

whitfreak wrote: »

Just a side note, 3-4years down the line when you are job searching, do the maths on how much more you need to earn just to stand still, e.g. £16.5k stipend is worth around £22k taxed/NIed/SLC pay.

I was just discussing exactly that with my daughter yesterday, I don't think she has realised how much she will need to earn once she is finished her PhD to be on a similar nett income.

She receives total funding of some £18000, plus earns about £3000 from tutorials, labs etc. Then she pays no council tax on her flat (a saving of at least £1500), so I reckon she needs to earn about £29000 to be on the same nett amount.

As a software engineer this is within reach, but she seems to have become fond of the academic life. She has the opportunity of a lectureship when she is finished in 18 months, but it pays nothing like £29000.

Oldernotwiser

jennifernil wrote: »

I was just discussing exactly that with my daughter yesterday, I don't think she has realised how much she will need to earn once she is finished her PhD to be on a similar nett income.

She receives total funding of some £18000, plus earns about £3000 from tutorials, labs etc. Then she pays no council tax on her flat (a saving of at least £1500), so I reckon she needs to earn about £29000 to be on the same nett amount.

As a software engineer this is within reach, but she seems to have become fond of the academic life. She has the opportunity of a lectureship when she is finished in 18 months, but it pays nothing like £29000.

Don't forget that if she were earning £29,000, she'd be making student loan repayments of over £100 per month, which she wouldn't be doing on a lower salary. Apart from this, I do agree with you.

jennifernil

She is a very lucky girl, she has no debt at all.

Here in Scotland there are no fees to pay.
We supported her to the tune of £2000 per annum for the 4 years of her first degree, and the rest of her keep was covered by part-time term-time jobs, and full-time holiday jobs.

Char_pdc

Hey,

I'm in a similar position to you and I can't get a straight answer out of the student loans company...some people there say I need to repay, others say I do not. Currently I'm just sending them letters periodically asking them to conclusively answer my query and keeping proofs to show that I am trying to deal with the issue.

nervousftb_3

hi, i am a funded phd student like you, and no i do not repay my student loan at the moment. yes, we are officially earning over the threshold amount for repaying the loan, but as far as i am aware, the fact that we are still classed as a student means that you do not have to pay it back until you have a 'real' job as it were.