Leaving university debt free

Simon11

I managed to save around £25k during my university course+ Placement year, after entertainment, holidays, drinking

Granted my parents paid for my uni fees, I would have still have £15k banked.

I worked around 20-30hours a week while completiting my degree- as long as I was organised, it was never an issue.

I lived at home and didn't drive. Huge savings there.....

If you are happy to commit, you can leave university with no debt and I now have plenty of cash to put towards a house.

[Deleted User]

I think it's hugely dependent on your circumstances, particularly location, employment and probably length of course too.

If you got great grades and can get any bursaries/studentships/scholarships based on them then this will help a lot. There are also financial incentives for certain subjects at certain Uni's, some performance related, some not.

Also if you have any savings before you start, assistance from parents or another relative.

Also having a reasonable well paid part-time job through term-time and additional work during holidays will also help.

Living with parents will also work out a lot cheaper than living in a rented accomodation, but then privately rented can often work out a lot cheaper than Uni accomodation. Living and studying somewhere small and up-north, like Bradford, will be a lot cheaper than central London - but then job opportunities are likley to be more widley available and better paid in the capitol than anywhere else.

Doing a five year degree will be more expensive than a three year degree.

There are so many variables you need to consider in your plan, but I do believe it can be achieveable for some.

D9

mightymixty

Thanks for all your replies. It is nice to hear that some of you think it's somewhat doable, or have left uni with savings yourself. I think if I change my goal to at least 10k banked this might be a bit more achievable.Like Oldernotwiser pointed out, I wouldn't want to be so focused on saving that it would be to the detriment of my uni experience.

On a sidenote though I have applied for scholarships, am trying to secure a part time job and have savings from a gap year. So I do plan to get/make as much money as I can!

xrjtg

Very definitely possible with fees at the current level, especially if you get the full maintenance grant and a comparable bursary from your university.

You could be in the last year where bursaries and frugal living are enough to be net debt free though.

tunde10

I left university debt free, however i have to admit my circumstances are different to the average student. I was a placed in care at the afge of 13 therefore was a care leaver but i wasn't eligible for a student loan at the time as i only had temporary leave in the UK. The loan company said i may choose to return to my country and not pay the loan back!

Anyway the leaving care services agreed to pay my fees as it was only around #2600 and i had good college grades. They at that time they automatically used to pay for accomodation for all care leavers till a certain age. So basically my fees and accomodation was paid for. they then gave me around #50 a week in line with JSA to live on. I managed to live on this all 3yrs and i even got a leaving care grant from my university of #1000 a yr.
I did do them proud by achieving a !st class degree so their investment wasn't wasted. Anyway so it is possible if u are very lucky like i was!

Oldernotwiser

Simon11 wrote: »

I managed to save around £25k during my university course+ Placement year, after entertainment, holidays, drinking

Granted my parents paid for my uni fees, I would have still have £15k banked.

I worked around 20-30hours a week while completiting my degree- as long as I was organised, it was never an issue.

I lived at home and didn't drive. Huge savings there.....

If you are happy to commit, you can leave university with no debt and I now have plenty of cash to put towards a house.

But what did you pay for your keep?

pixie_girl_3

I think you can leave university debt free and I don't think it is that hard to do it.

I did biochemistry, so the 20+ hours of work wouldn't have been possible with my course demands - too much time in the lab, no 'reading weeks', and a higher workload compared to (some) other subjects.

I did work as a waitress part time (~16hrs/week) which is good as tips paid in cash I used for food/travel and the actual wages contributed to my rent etc (as when I did it the loan did not even cover my renting costs let alone living costs.).

I worked like mad in the holidays in catering on campus (12h days) to pay for climbing/canoeing trips and archery kit so I still felt like I had the 'uni experience' (too many expensive hobbies were discovered at Uni. :eek:)

I would thoroughly recommend taking a placement year, I saved ~£5000 in mine. Find a very cheap place to rent, live very frugally and you will be set for no financial problems in your final year (hopefully).

Plus the experience really does help with employment after you leave.

Person_one

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

But what did you pay for your keep?

Some parents don't mind helping to support their children until they've finished their full time education, or even beyond. Its not compulsory for parents to charge 'keep', despite the impression you'd get from this forum!

Oldernotwiser

Person_one wrote: »

Some parents don't mind helping to support their children until they've finished their full time education, or even beyond. Its not compulsory for parents to charge 'keep', despite the impression you'd get from this forum!

It seems to me that, if you're not paying your way, it's the money of the person who's keeping you that you're saving.

Person_one

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

It seems to me that, if you're not paying your way, it's the money of the person who's keeping you that you're saving.

So? If that person is ok with it and actively wants to help you, what's wrong with that? Most parents don't actually want to just wash their hands of their kids when they turn 18, they care about them and want the best for them. They've been paying for them for many years, its not a new and shocking experience!