What should I reasonably pay for DD to go to Uni

GothicStirling

ceebeeby wrote: »

This is one of the potential Uni's but she's not heard back from them yet. We came on the open day and it looked fantastic - really impressed. The library looked great too, although couldn't believe the cost of it.

Good luck for the public transport on Friday.

I didn't get my offer until March.

Very beautiful campus and staff are fantastic.

*I have to hand a draft chapter into my supervisor on Friday. If the weather holds, I'm predicting a walk from the town centre.

Sazzarella

I've found being a student hard work. A lot of people in Edinburgh are students on 'daddy's' money and have nice flats and out all the time.
I know what it feels like to have a step dad you despise. This was the main reason I wanted to move out as well. During the first 3 years I held down 2 jobs to finance a flat as my family wernt able to help with money. It's only in my final year I've moved home as I want to concentrate on my studies.
Living away from home is damn expensive though and certainly in Edinburgh the student halls are more expensive than sharing a private flat. Average rent is about £350 plus money for food and books etc!

I think people whos parents can afford to fund them are really lucky! Working 2 jobs while trying to keep grades up is extremely hard!

Gillyx

The bare minimum loan in Scotland is shocking, just because we don't pay fees doesn't mean £915 is enough to live on for a year, I'd tell Saas to ram it

I speak from experience, when I left school, I chose a uni close enough to home, but my rail travel was £100 a month, I had a part time job but it was only 8 hours a week, and despite trying hard to find a job with more hours, I really struggled, the only option available to me was bar work, and at the time I didn't drive so getting home at 3am from a city half an hour away isn't really an option. After a few months I had to drop out as I literally couldn't afford to be at uni anymore, the travel was too much and I had used my first instalment of loan (at that time the loan was paid three times a year rather than monthly) on Books for my course and other materials I needed. I rarely went out and didn't waste my money on stuff I didn't need.

My mum and dad were still together at the time and earned a fair amount but when Saas give the amount of parental contribution they don't take into account any outgoings, only what they earn which isn't great if your parents have a large mortgage or whatever else.

People from other parts of the UK look at Scotland and say oh how great for them no fees but the reality is quite bleak for most.

There was an article in the paper a few months ago about how Scottish Students are amongst the poorest in the UK, and a large percentage ( I think it was 60 odd ) had considered dropping out due to lack of money.

Alex Salmond has alot to answer for in my opinion.

ceebeeby

Thanks Sazarella, Edinburgh is another she's waiting to hear from. Well, if she's applied for 5, I guess that's most of the Scottish ones really isn't it!!!!

jennifernil

I would say £500 per month should be just enough. How you split this you need to negotiate.

We have helped 2 through Uni, DS ages ago when there were still grants, and loans were unheard of. He stayed at home, we gave him a monthly allowance as he did not qualify for a grant.

DD started in 2003 and is now nearing the end of her PhD. She started off at home, but after a few months we got her a flat as travel from here is not easy these days. We payed housing (about £300 pcm) and gave her about £200 per month for the 8 months she was away, plus paid for books. Holidays she got free bed and board here if she wanted. So that cost us about £5300 per annum in actual payments.

She had to pay everything else herself.....utilities, going out, etc, etc. She got a job in a supermarket, anything from 12 to 20 hours per week, and full time in holidays. Earned more than enough, and saved too. She didn't take any student loan.

Come exam time she reduced her hours, or used her earned holidays. In 4th year she stopped working completely at easter to study.

We were fortunate that we did not have to support both of ours at the same time, but we did it all on one income. We just tightened our belts, didn't take holidays abroad, and both understood that we would not fund more than the essentials.

GothicStirling

Gillyx wrote: »

Alex Salmond has alot to answer for in my opinion.

I'm looking forward to kicking his !!! out of Holyrood in May. Less independence talk, more jobs please.

I don't know how Scottish students do it.

WARNING: if she doesn't apply to SAAS, she won't be able to apply for a university discretionary grant.

ceebeeby

I think someone else mentioned a Uni Discretionary Grant - do you have any more info on what this is - or how she might apply / qualify etc. Thanks again everyone.

GothicStirling

The Scottish parliament give each university a lump sum to give to student's in financial hardship. They are run by the finance office, and judged on a person to person basis. You can't apply until you have enrolled, and it normally takes about 4 weeks to assess. Basically it's a series of questions about income and what is going out.

She will have had to received funding from SAAS first as that is part of the T&C that all other sources of revenue have been exhausted. The good bit is that they are non-repayable grants.

jennifernil

I think you should look on that source as an absolute last resort. If she does not get a part time job, and you are not paying the assessed contribution, she may well get little or nothing.

It is supposed to be for those in hardship.

Bennifred

I know it's easy to criticise after the event - I'm going to point it out though, in case other parents who read this are thinking of doing something similar - it's probably a mistake to tell your offspring in advance that you are saving for them or going to give them a lump sum at a certain age. It leads to a sense of entitlement, and may not be possible when the time arrives. Better to give them a lovely surprise!

It would have saved a lot of the bitterness in this case.......