whats the best way to fund my masters

kayla85

My situation is that i have already done a 4 yr degree and received full students loan and grant.

Im now applying to do a pre-registration masters in Occupational therapy in scotland. THis course is self funded and im advised to get a professional careers loan to pay for the £11,000 course fees.

I dont want to pay the huge interest, when i graduate the interest payments start a few months after i finnish my course. I'm not even sure if i'll get a job straight away. Even when i become an OT professional and earning £20,000 i will have to pay both loans at same time, so im worried i wont be able to afford the repayments.:(

My dad has suggested that he would get me a loan through his morgage as his morgage payments are very low and interest is also. He suggested that this way my fees would be covered and i can pay him the difference he aquired with the loan on his morggage monthly payments. Is this a better idea than getting a professional loan?

Another question i have is if i dont get professional loan if im struggling with living expences will i be entitled to hardship fund. As my university states i will only be entitled if i have the full student loan. I'm not sure If the career loan is the same as the student loan or is it seperate which would mean i wont get the hardship fund.

Sorry for so many questions just eager to get this solved.

Appreciate any help i can get with this



Regards
Kayla

Peelerfart

How do you feel about getting a job,saving like crazy and then going back to do the masters ?

kayla85

I will never be abe to save enough to do the masters as im struggling to get work in the social care sector and the pay is awful. Since 2007 when i graduated ive went from various support and care jobs relevant to OT but ive seen me in one year earn as little as 6,000 i could pay the rent and bills but not much of a life. The problem is im not qulified or experienced for any other type of work.:(

Is what my dad proposed really not the best option considering my circumstances? Im just desperate to get into a job that pays well im scraping by at the moment.

Tixy

A career development loan will be the cheapest 'normal' way to fund your course as you don't pay anything whilst you study, the interest is paid for you- have you checked these loans out in detail to see what it would cost etc. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/educationandlearning/adultlearning/financialhelpforadultlearners/careerdevelopmentloans/index.htm

With the idea of your Dad taking on an extra mortgage these are things I think you would need to consider -
- interest rates are likely to increase soon, is his mortgage APR fixed and if so for how long? would he also try to fix your extra borrowing or would he put it on SVR? If on SVR remember there is a high likelihood that these will start to increase significantly soon.
- with the debt in dad's name is he able to pay it off if you can't? he will be legally responsible and it would be him affected if it was not paid. If you lost your job/couldn't work due to ill health etc then can he keep up the payments alone?
-if you do get a job after finishing will his mortgage allow overpayments or will you be stuck paying this back over a very long time (and thereby paying much more in interest overall).

A career loan is not the same as a student loan and I don't think you would be eligible for the hardship fund. Is dad offering to borrow only the fees element or also your living costs etc?

kayla85

Thanks Tixy that has gave me some important questions i need to think about and find out the answers to.
Just what i needed.

MrsManda

You may be able to get an NHS bursary (or HERE)to cover your fees but I'm not sure how it works with Scottish courses

hur575

Yes, Tixy but Career development loan is only £8000 but you do not pay interests until you finish your course.
Op if you want my advice, stay away from professional careers loan, it is expensive way to fund your studies, I struggled with it and I am earning more than your expected salary.

kayla85

just sooo dissapointed in Scotland not giving any financial support to those who want to contribute and better themselveswhen England pay for tuition and living expenses. I have thought about going down south but it would be too much upheaval

Paul_the_Painter

Hi Kayla,

I'm not normally a member of the spelling/grammar police, but if you are considering a Masters, and have already completed a 4 year first degree, I'm staggered by the way your post was written.

Occupational Therapists will often have to make reports, and these should be well written and understandable by those requesting them.

On to your question, I would suggest doing a cash flow analysis of each option. Interest will start from day 1 on any option of loan, but repayments may not.

It may be possible to pay your course fees in 3 instalments, this would mean you could borrow the money in 3 tranches thus
reducing your interest bill.

For example :- Course starts September borrow £11,000 - repayments start following September if interest is 1% per month 12 months later you owe £12,395.

If you can pay in 3 instalments once every 3 months you would borrow £3667 then 3 months later you owe £3778. You then borrow another £3667 making £7445. 3 months later you owe £7690, you then borrow the last £3666, and now owe £11,336 after another 3 months at the end of the course you owe £11,680. If you still make no payments until the end of the 3 month payment free period at the end of the course, you owe £12,034.

This would save you £360

The interest if borrowed on your fathers mortgage would of course be lower, but at the end of the course you are going to owe a minimum of £11,000.

You salary expectations are a little bit off. Outside of London and the surrounding area you would probably start at Band 5 - point 16

Band 5

Point 16 21,176
Point 17 21,798
Point 18 22,663
Point 19 23,563
Point 20 24,554
Point 21 25,472
Point 22 26,483
Point 23 27,534

These rates will probably be slightly higher by the time you graduate, and you would advance one point for each year of service.

Do check that the course that you are considering will lead to an accredited qualification, as the paragraph below from the NHS careers website suggests a 2 year course may be neccesary.

Training normally consists of a three year course leading to a BSc in occupational therapy. If you are already employed as an occupational therapy support worker or a technical instructor, however, you might be able to study part-time, in which case the course would take four years. There are also graduate entry schemes to a two year accelerated course which also lead to a formal qualification. You are then able to apply for the necessary registration to work in the NHS or social services.

As regards hardship funds, these are designed for people who have unforseen circumstances, and are of a limited nature. Under no circumstances should you rely on them, you should plan your borrowings and part-time work so that you would have no need for a hardship loan/grant. If you do get into difficulties due to unforseen circumstances (say you break your leg, and are unable to undertake the casual bar work you were relying on) that is the time to think about hardship funds. Hardship funds should never be seen as part of your financial planning for university.

Hope that has been of some help

kayla85

Sorry for m typing errors. I'm typing too quickly making errors prob because im doing several other things online. Im guessing you can make out what im saying. Thankyou for your reply.Im very OCD when it comes to written work when it really matters . Just going to read what you have posted up just now.

kayla85

RE. Course fees in 3 instalments, this would mean you could borrow the money in 3 tranches thus
reducing your interest bill.

Are you talking in relation to a career development loan here, only borrowing what i need in instalments over the two yearsthus reducing the overall interest?