I want to become a student but my current debt is stopping me... please help.

skint_lsb

I really want to go to Uni :beer: but I'm afraid I won't be able to cope financially if I have to continue with the payments of my current loan.

In July 2005 I took out a £10,000 loan with Intelligent Finance over a 7 year period at 8.1% APR. I'm paying off £157.20 a month. The settlement figure I got today was £8850.57. :eek:

I'm concerned that if I go to Uni I may not be able to afford the monthly repayment so I wondered if there is a way I can put the repayments on hold until I finish Uni or whether there is anything I can do so I don’t have to worry about paying the instalments whilst I am studying.

I have discussed it with Intelligent Finance who say they can only discuss different ways of paying the loan if I fail to make payments:mad: . Obviously, I don’t want to miss payments and end up with a bad credit rating.

I’m really worried that I may not be able to go to Uni for several years because of the financial mess I have got myself into. Does anyone have any advice that may help me?

dips_3

Yes - do a degree through the OU while you carry on working. When you have finished that if you still have a desire to rack up huge amounts of student debt and hang around in the student union go and do a masters degree.

Sorry to be blunt but have you thought this through or do you just feel like you have missed out on student life? - it isn;t all it is cracked up to be.

Will a degree make a difference to your career and earning potential?

Would work expereince be better or have you got a particular career route in mind that needs a degree such as teacher/nurse etc?

You need to post more info...what degree are you planning and why? What do you do now and how much do you currently earn? How old are you and what are you qualifications?

skint_lsb

I’m 25 years old and I want be a social worker and I have to do a Social Work degree to do this. If I was very lucky I may be able to find a work placement while I study at the same time, but I know my limits and know I would really struggle with working full-time and studying. I have tried OU before and failed because I found it too difficult to work full-time and study.

I have GCSE English, Maths and Welsh, several level 3 RSA typing qualifications and a level 2 Office Procedures qualification, so no qualifications at a higher level and nothing of any worth to my desired career.

I earn £14,787 p.a as an admin assistant in Social Services. The degree really will make a difference to my career and earning potential. My current salary is pretty good for an admin assistant in this area so my salary is not likely to increase phenomenally and I don’t want to stay in an admin career anyway. I am going to increase my loan payments from January and I think I can manage to double it, but it will still take several years to clear the debt.

I don’t have a desire to rack up loads of student debt and hang around the student union, but I do have a desire to get a degree to enable me to have the career I want and a better earning potential. I enjoyed college life, and know I would enjoy Uni life too, but that is not why I want to go to Uni. I know I can do really well with study if I have the time to put my all into it.

I am thinking this through, which is why I have asked for financial advice and have spent time looking into my desired career.

fabwitch_2

I would also recommend the Open University to do a degree as you can continue working paying off your depts and if you are on a low income you may be able to get help with the course fees. Also there is a great online forum for OU students as well as loads of oppertunitys to meet up with other students . Plus you can gain other qualifications along th way suh as Cerficates and Diplomas which xan also count towards your degree. As you work for Social Services can they sponser you to do the social work degree though the OU as they now offer this facility.

Mrs_pbradley936

Another vote for the OU from me. You do have to plan your time if you are working and studying but it can be done and much better than not studying at all or giving up work and getting into debt. Also at your age you might find that you do not mix well with other freshers who will be 18 and to you may seem immature nor will you be a typical "mature student". I really do not want to put you off but I think you should think about what you would be getting into. Also if you go to university at 18 you are not used to earning much real money and so do not miss it.

Voyager2002

Well, have you worked out what course you would do, and where? These details are all important. And I am concerned that your highest academic qualifications are at GCSE level, and that you could not handle studying with the Open University. On the other hand, you do have a very good reason for studying and have worked out well how the degree would fit in with your life goals.

I suggest that you contact the OU again and get all the information and training that they offer around study skills. The difficulties that you experienced in doing work in the time available (especially when you are tired) apply to full-time degree courses as well -- paid employment takes up less time for most students, but the academic work load is much heavier, so this is something that you will have to deal with. Anyway, there are good reasons why most degree courses require 'A' levels or something similar of most applicants: you will need the study skills, experience of writing essays and meeting deadlines, and some of the knowledge base that you would get from study at a standard similar to 'A' level. I know that as a mature student you could get exemption from those requirements, but I don't recommend it.

As suggested by other posters, the OU offers a good route for you. Try to have a chat with your old tutor from last time you studied, and work out why it did not work for you then and what changes you could make in order to succeed next time round. Then try doing something like the Foundation course in social care. OU courses are very well regarded by most universities (I am an academic doing research for a leading university) and so success at that level could give you a wider choice of course and university than would otherwise be the case, and might open up scholarship opportunities for you.

Phoenix79_2

Can you overpay on the loan? Perhaps a concerted effort over the next year or so could bring the balance of the loan down? Take a second job at weekends and put that money towards the loan. How badly do you want to go to uni?

dips_3

skint_lsb wrote:

I’m 25 years old and I want be a social worker and I have to do a Social Work degree to do this. If I was very lucky I may be able to find a work placement while I study at the same time, but I know my limits and know I would really struggle with working full-time and studying. I have tried OU before and failed because I found it too difficult to work full-time and study.

I have GCSE English, Maths and Welsh, several level 3 RSA typing qualifications and a level 2 Office Procedures qualification, so no qualifications at a higher level and nothing of any worth to my desired career.

I earn £14,787 p.a as an admin assistant in Social Services. The degree really will make a difference to my career and earning potential. My current salary is pretty good for an admin assistant in this area so my salary is not likely to increase phenomenally and I don’t want to stay in an admin career anyway. I am going to increase my loan payments from January and I think I can manage to double it, but it will still take several years to clear the debt.

I don’t have a desire to rack up loads of student debt and hang around the student union, but I do have a desire to get a degree to enable me to have the career I want and a better earning potential. I enjoyed college life, and know I would enjoy Uni life too, but that is not why I want to go to Uni. I know I can do really well with study if I have the time to put my all into it.

I am thinking this through, which is why I have asked for financial advice and have spent time looking into my desired career.

OK - you do need a degree to be a social worker and it will increase your job prospects and earning potential so you have clearly thought this through.

There are two challenges you need to get over 1) You qualifications are not high enough to get you on a social work degree course at the moment 2) you have some debt which you need to sort our first.

The first thing you need to do is talk to the university admission officer and find out what qualifications you need to get on the course. I would look into either an access course at your local college or possibly a foundation course with the OU - but check it out with the admissions tutor. At your age you will be classed as a mature student so you don;t have to go down the A level route

Second - you need to sort out your debt - I am not an expert on this so someone else could probably give you some better advice but off the top of my head I would suggest possibly getting rid of as much debt now as you can (you won;t be going to uni until September 2008 at the earliest) and then possibly negotiating a new payment plan over a longer period with your creditor while you at at uni. One option may be to look at the possibility, once you go to uni, of getting a cheaper loan to get rid of the more expensive one.

Another option is to look at the possibility of doing a part time degree and carry on working part time. I am not sure if this is possibly but it is worth looking into - It is tough but in the right place with support from friends and your workplace you could do it - you sound very determined.

Where there is will there is a way and I am sure you can work something out.

Good luck.

comeonthetic

skint_lsb,

I went to uni at 17 and did the first 2 years of my degree then dropped out as I wanted to be a teacher but knew I was too immature at that time anyway. I never had any money and all my mates were going out and I could hardly ever go.

Anyway, me and my Mrs ended up having a couple of kids, bought a house and acquired quite a bit of debt and I thought I would never go back as I would not be able to afford it. Last year I was wayyyyy depressed and just decided to hell with it, and went back. I've finished my degree, started 1 year post grad teacher training course and am happier than ever.

I have a mortgage (£270 p/m), a loan (£175 p/m) and other things. I am skint big time! My Mrs only started working part-time (£90 p/w) and therefore do not think I have been funded through this. My advice would be to go for it. You will find a way to get by and it is amazing how much you can avoid wasting, when you have too. I obviously had a bit less to do to get through my degree but I also have more commitments.

I'm not the cleverest money saver in the world but here are a few ideas from me, if you do decide to go for it.

Approx 15k p/a. therefore over 1k p/m. Save, save then save some more. As someone has mentioned, get another job at weekends and evenings. However, instead of paying more to the loan, simply put it away in another account and depending on when you start you might have 1 or 2 years loan repayments you don't have to worry about. Then during the summer get a full time job and save up more for the next years payments and so on...

You will get a student loan, and could keep your part-time job whilst studying so £150 (ish) a month is not that much really.

So take heart from what I did. Go for it and if you are half as lucky as I've been you will realise how promising life can become.

Tic