How much should parents contribute financially?

melancholly

danclarkie wrote: »

This thread annoys me a bit. My parents offered 0 financial support for me if I went to university.
I didn't go.

that's a real shame - but the system is in place so that students can manage to go without parental help. it may not be 'easy' but there are a lot of students who get by without massive help from their parents because a lot of parents don't have the money to give!

don't hate all students because you chose not to be one. plenty of students work hard on their degree and in part time jobs and budget better than most.

be proud of what you've done, but don't look down on people who made different choices.

stedwell

I really don't think that my daughter will be 'living it large' on the small amount I will be able to afford to give her for her living expenses. She is fully prepared to work her way through uni (as she already does at 16) but in all probability the jobs will not be there. She is considering all possibilities in a mature manner that I don't think i would have been capable of at her age. She is considering studying abroad to save money. Also I don't think a 27,000 loan can be considered as 'free money' which is what she will graduate with even with help from me.

themull1

Is everyone assuming their kids will want to go to university? All this saving for their kids in advance, what if they don't go? will you give them the money for something else?

stedwell

2 years away isn't very much in advance and I would rather have money I can then perhaps use for the mortgage or a fab holiday than have nothing at all.

Gillyx

In Scotland the loans are even worse than the rest of the UK! Taking into account what my parents earned I was entitled to £500ish a year, tell me where you can live for £500 a year? Could my parents give me the shortfall of what Saas were expecting them to contribute, no they couldn't 'cause they had a mortgage etc to pay for. Even with a part time job it would be difficult to live.

Before the "you get free tutition" brigade come arunning, yes we do but that is paid anyway at the time for students in the rest of the UK, so although the overall debt at the end is more, it isn't taken into consideration of the costs of everyday living, and noone would use there maintenance loan to pay there fees, at least I don't think.

hcb42

At least you are not leaving with £27K debt.

Gillyx

I realise that, but at least the debt would enable me to actually get to university. I tried once before, and couldn't study, and work the amount of hours I needed to, to keep me afloat, and had to drop out to work. Even now I'd love the opportunity to go to university, but my financial restraints won't allow me.

On re-reading this I sound abit poor poor me, when I don't mean to, obviously I'm happy and content I actually have a job in the current climate, but there was an article in one of the broadsheets recently about how Scottish students worry the most about money, even though they don't have to pay tuition fees, and that up to 60 odd percent had considering dropping out due to money worries. I just don't understand why the loan system isn't the same, it's not free money, it does have to be paid back.

Robster88

Fang wrote: »

There are many courses where you have to buy your own equipment - art, architecture, design, interior design, fashion etc.

I can attest that architecture can be a very expensive degree and so course costs for subjects like these should be budgeted for. There are some weeks around deadlines where I easily spend £200 on printing, and model materials aren't always cheap either..

setmefree2

stedwell wrote: »

Hi
Reading this thread with much interest. My daughter will be going to uni in 2013 so hitting the probable £9000 a year tuition fees. I am worrying already and trying to put money by now so that I can support her when she goes. In light of the huge increase of fees does anyone think that parent contributions will have to increase too?

Yes but not because of the increase in tuition fees but because the government is reducing the amount of maintenance loans it will lend to students.

partial grants will only be available to students from households with incomes of £42,000, instead of the current cut-off point of £50,000. Means-tested loans will continue. While loan amounts have been increased, the threshold for those receiving the most generous ones has been lowered from £50,000 to about £42,000.

ailuro2

We have a plan in place for if/when DD goes to Uni... she's only 12 now, about to start high school after the summer.

If she wanted to go to Uni to faff about doing an easy degree then she'd be expected to get a part time job to supplement her money from us.

If she ends up doing medicine then it's obviously not possible to burn the candle at both ends for all those years so she would have to live at home to keep costs down and do here degree in her home town, if she got it!

I left school and did an apprenticeship when I was 16, should have stayed on at school really, but parents didn't support that idea at all ( back in the eighties) DH and I will support DD through her studies as best we can.

There are admin assistants at my work who have a degree - it's quite shocking really, years ago they'd have done a year at commercial college to be taught what they needed to know to be a [STRIKE]secretary[/STRIKE] sorry, an admin assistant.

The large numbers of young folk with degrees has watered down the meaning of having a degree - I'm not saying they aren't clever, but they do sometimes leave us older workers speechless with their lack of common knowledge, poor spelling and downright lazy work ethic. A degree used to be something out of the ordinary but these days they are as common as the City and Guilds qualifications used to be way back in the 70s.