How much should parents contribute financially?

evespikey

With regard to the admin assistants who have degrees- yes, it is a shame, but there simply aren't enough graduate jobs available. In my coffee shop in town pretty much all of the workers have degrees. They can't get any other job at the moment and are working just to pay the bills.

The_One_Who

Gillyx wrote: »

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.

When I applied, even the full amount (about £4,500ish for those living away from home) was a lot lower than the rest of the UK and most would struggle to live on that for the year without a part-time job. University grants and bursaries are also more common down south, whereas up here they are pretty much unheard of and definitely not in the region of £1000+.

Scottish universities have some of the highest drop-out rates, probably because people go to university without really thinking it through. They are pushed along the conveyor belt at school without giving much thought to whether they really want to go to university and/or which subject they really want to do.

I know a lot of people (myself included) who would be happy to pay for their tuition. They would be even happier if their maintenance loans were at a similar level to the rest of the UK and if they had equal access to UK-wide university education.

Oldernotwiser

The_One_Who wrote: »

When I applied, even the full amount (about £4,500ish for those living away from home) was a lot lower than the rest of the UK and most would struggle to live on that for the year without a part-time job. University grants and bursaries are also more common down south, whereas up here they are pretty much unheard of and definitely not in the region of £1000+.

I've always assumed that this is because the Scottish tradition is to go to your local university and live at home, whereas the English tradition is to move away to go to university.

silvercar

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!

That theory falls down if she does want to study something like medicine and isn't offered a place at her local university.

Oldernotwiser

silvercar wrote: »

That theory falls down if she does want to study something like medicine and isn't offered a place at her local university.

I agree. Relying on being offered a place by only one university is a very risky strategy, particularly for such an oversubscribed subject as Medicine.

The_One_Who

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I've always assumed that this is because the Scottish tradition is to go to your local university and live at home, whereas the English tradition is to move away to go to university.

Whilst there is that Scottish tradition, the maintenance loan partly facilitates that I think. Living in Edinburgh on that level of loan (or less)? Next to impossible. The other university towns and cities are a bit cheaper (maybe with the exception of St Andrews), but I don't know anyone who moved who didn't have to take on a part-time job. Which is of course great to have, but in some places they can be hard to come by and even harder to find ones which can be worked around a university timetable.

Obviously people can take a year out and work to save for university (if they can find a job...), but with Scots leaving university at 21/22 already, and the ever increasing rush to get on the career and housing ladders it can put people off.

I knew I wanted to go to Glasgow, which is just as well considering I was pretty much confined to that one choice, simply because I knew I'd never be able to move elsewhere even though I had the grades.

19lottie82

I guess it is a case of working out how much your daughter needs to “survive” ie. rent, food, heating and possibly a travelcard (if required) and uni books (if she can’t get them from the uni library), deducting her loan amount from this and then, if you can afford it, contributing the rest.

Any luxuries such as new clothes and nights out can be paid for with a part time job. Unless she is doing a very demanding degree, then there is no reason why she can’t work around 10 hours a week, which equates to about £60 (@ minimum wage). I have always worked part time jobs on top of university, and then full time jobs, and find it very difficult when some students say they cannot find work. If you are prepared to do almost anything, then there are loads of p/t jobs out there., ideal for students. The Job Centre Plus website is a good place to start. The uni should also have some type of “job board”.

anne99

My student son and daughter get by on their (Scottish) full loan, with a top-up of £300 per term from relatives. They reckon you could live on the student loan, the top-up lets them 'have a life' (in my son's case, this included a ski holiday). One is in halls, the other rents a flat. They are learning all sorts of useful skills at university, and two of them are how to budget and live on a modest income.

Both earned some money before going to university, and are using this as a cushion to avoid overdrafts, rather than a reserve to be used up.

Neither feels hard-done-to, and I am really proud of their attitudes.

Last summer, I met a friend who complained her daughter, just finished first year at university, hadn't got round to finding a summer job, and really was doing nothing for the summer. DD was working hard in a job within their shared hobby, having bothered to get a teaching qualification. She enjoyed the work and really developed her people skills. I pointed out that DD had to work, as we are not well off, and couldn't afford to subsidise her doing nothing. My much richer friend sighed and said, "Well, yes, I might have to cut her allowance to get her to do something."

Cut her allowance? We were charging DD for her keep! There are few times I am glad we are not better off, but that was one of them. As the economy goes down the pan, my pair are going to be so much better prepared to cope.

Neato

I'm about to graduate. During my time at uni my parents haven't given me anything on a monthly basis. When I lived out I had 2 months where after paying for rent and bills I realised I didn't have enough money for food and my parents helped me out with £30 each time.

It's been fairly difficult, I've had a job through all three years and in every vacation. At the start of this year I had 3! However, last year I chose to run a car as well as being a student so I know full well where my money went.

It's worth saying that I get grants, although I don't get any extra money than people with the full loan, they essentially take away some of your loan and replace it with grants, so I have the same amount of cash to hand but will have less to pay back. I'm not sure if that is how it is done with the reform.

WendellG

The way I saw was that as a parent I needed to make up the difference between the full loans and what ever loan my DS actually got.

The maintenance loan and the maintenance grant combined give you a total of around £7k per year, higher earnings mean you get less grant and more loan. If you don't do the means tested loan but go for the minimum then you should expect to make up the difference. Beware of taking out the full maintenance loan AND giving money for living expenses in excess of this. Additionally there are tuition fees that add to the overall student debt.

So the cost of going to uni now (or next year) is around £11k (£17k) per year, or £33k (£51k) for a 3 year degree. The student debt will probably be less than that through parental contributions or grants/bursaries but even so the amount of debt is scary and that's before they think about buying a house.