Student loans for very mature students

heartbreak_star

I'm not a "Thatcher child" and my blood is now boiling at the implication - when that 'mare was in power my dad didn't know if he could continue to put food on the table and I ended up letting myself into an empty house at a young age as my mum had to work too and things weren't so easy then!! :@

We do live in a fairly pants world at the moment, I fully agree with that - but I went to uni to study biology so I could help save lives and that's what I'm doing now (I work in automated medical diagnostics). Oh, and I'm paying my fees and loan back from my distinctly average paying job (science is not the moneyspinner people seem to think but it's what I really wanted to do).

You don't know the area of finance the other person works in...what if it's deciding who to give student loans to? Might be a different tone then

I'm still not convinced of your dedication, nor am I convinced you're not about to contribute to our continuing recession by taking out finance you can't (won't) pay back...but as you seem to be getting more passionate about education I shall once more wish you good luck and may karma treat you well!

HBS x

GotToChange

Well Dave - you have certainly had to run the gauntlet with what I bet you thought was a fairly innocent question, asking with a hint (too subtle maybe?) of irony.

Sometimes, this whole forum (and that is deliberately avoiding the property sub-forums) can be like something out of (was it?) "Resident Evil" when they are trying to get through some kind of airlock and laser beams are literally cutting them off at the knees... Sorting the (rare sometimes) useful information you might gain from the sniping, snarkiness and judgemental dross can leave you quite wrong-footed, having to argue your point and certainly very little wiser.

So that said, I reiterate my previous "advice" (for what any advice from me might be worth) and I certainly hope that you DO NOT allow your dreams to go on the (permanent) back burner. And for God's sake, don't take any notice of all this political blustering; hopefully it won't filter down to the likes of you or I. You deserve a place (subject to the course requirements) absolutely as much as a"typical"-age student - if not more so in my opinion. The university will be receiving the tuition fees; when or whether or not they are repaid BY you is not relevant [to them] at this point in time so certainly play down (from now on ) your hope that you may not actually do so....?

Speak to an admissions tutor - and especially (if there is one) a mature student advisor. I understand where you are coming from - and, more importantly, where and what you are aiming for.

marybelle01

Well, since you ask...

davestretty wrote: »

Do I smell some of "Thatcher's children" coming out of the woodwork. No - I spent the Thatcher years, or those of which I was in the UK, fighting the Thatcher government. What did you do, just as a matter of interest?

How dare any of you question my motivation. What, we aren't allowed opinions?

Did "you" go to university - obviously not for your own benefit but to serve mankind and save the world - what rank hypocrisy. Well lets see - I qualified in social work and then international relations. "Between jobs" I agency work in social work, but most of my life has been spent working in international aid and especially disaster relief. Which is what I will be doing come the next disaster. So did I do it all to serve mankind and save the world - well apparantly yes, I did!

I'm sure you all hang your heads as you cash your child benefit, tax credits, state pension etc. while holidaying in the sun..I wouldn't know - I have never claimed any benefits and haven't had a holiday in more than two decades - disasters tend not to stop for holidays in the sun. [/QUOTE]

And yes, every word of that is true, not that I care whether you believe it or not. Your questionable views and attitudes are not something I would value.

GotToChange

Seriously folks - (yes Dave, you are engaging and possibly inflaming the situation) - but can the thread not be kept on track please.
We are just going to end up going down a political and defensive path that only results in one-downmanship or a ****ing contest. Boring.

I want to take part in it - but these arguments are unhelpful at least and destructive at worst.

(And I say this as someone who once started a thread that grew to 12+ pages that ended up being pulled due to arguments and controversy.)

heartbreak_star

I kinda hope this does get modded.

HBS x

dizzyrascal

For goodness sake!
One man has found that (because of redundancy) he and his wife might be able to go to university!
It might possibly be free, we don't know yet.
He may do something with his degree, if he gets that far. He may not.
He may do something amazing and reinvent the wheel!
We don't know that either.
He wants to pursue a dream and he has been paying for lots of other people to go to university through his many years as a tax payer.
By doing a degree he may become an even more productive member of society, or, he may not.
You could argue that many graduates are not exactly setting the world alight.
Some people need to lighten up.

heartbreak_star

I argue that people taking out loans they can't afford to pay back throws the country into deeper recession.

As I've said many times, if the OP is genuine, good luck to him and his mrs.

HBS x

GotToChange

heartbreak_star wrote: »

I argue that people taking out loans they can't afford to pay back throws the country into deeper recession.

As I've said many times, if the OP is genuine, good luck to him and his mrs.

HBS x

That is a political argument that doesn't really have a place here.
There are very few people who take out fee and maintenance loans (because they HAVE to) who can categorically state that they will be able to repay them in full; the Government has created a backloaded problem for itself with the whole mess.

davestretty

Marybelle ,my "Thatcher's child" description obviously didn't apply to you. From your post it seems you are one in a million and thank goodness for people like you. Your life choice was your own and very admirable. I will not question your motives or rewards, they are your business, but keep up the good work. Even so I guess your courses were state funded with no requirement to pay back, though you do pay back in kind (times over), but what do you live on?

HBSs et al, I would not be taking out a loan I can't afford (or don't intend) to pay back. I would be usefully using my time without having to claim benefits in the full knowledge that when the system requires me to repay I shall do so (that is why it is called a LOAN). Like many graduates of the new system I will probably never earn enough to pay back the full amount. I would be elated to get the opportunity and that is not wrong.
Of course Dizzyrascal all this is hypothetical but is still worth contemplating.

And Firefox (the 1975 is a dead giveaway) if the qualifying criteria weren't confusing and complicated you would be able to give an answer - you haven't. Also I may well study dance ( I rise above your attempt to ridicule my age and disability)- If the course is available that is my right. I suppose to an accountant (I'm being generous in my description) that doesn't add up.

Taiko I have read The Education (student support) regulations 2011 and I fear your understanding and/or (biased) interpretation of the regulations is incorrect.(read again sections 69 and 70).

dizzyrascal

Incidentally, did you know that up till now, many people who did a degree in retirement with the OU were fully funded just because they were in receipt of a state pension? Even if those people had vast incomes from private pensions got a free education. As long as it was their first degree they qualified as it was not means tested.
That is why the OU has so many silver-haired undergraduates; however, the rules are changing for the September 2012 starters so I’m not sure what it will mean for new students.
The fact is that the OU demonstrates how vital and useful it is for our older generation to keep their brains active. I don’t have the stats available but it is a fact that the better educated you are the longer you will live!
And there is so much to learn too! Just because you are nearing retirement does not mean you have to give up your dreams or give up learning.