Advice onstudent finance if you choose to leave University

mintymoneysaver

Daughter is having a very tough time at University, mixture of halls, course etc. She is begging ( literally ) to come home. Although I still feel it is early days and I want her to stick it out I am also looking at the practicalities.

She was entitled to the full grant and loan, plus a bursary from Manchester. She has had her first tuition fee amount paid, and has received her first maintenance amount, with her accomodation for the first term having just been paid.
I have noticed that it has been stated that if she leaves before 1st Dec she will have to pay the tuition fee amount herself, rather than just owing it to student finance? Is this the case? If so, she will definitely have to stay till then at least! So if she left after 1st Dec it would just become payable when she earnt ovr £21, 000. How does this work with the maintenance amounts too? As obviously she has spent most of that already.

I know her university allows them to leave accomodation to withdraw from Uni with 28 days notice, but would Student finance want their amount back now?

I really want her to give it a bit longer, but obviously do not want her to be having such an awful time. However having all the facts to hand when she is home next week will help.

I am also not sure how the last section of this document works. Will this have any bearing on it? https://portalcms.manchester.ac.uk/crucial-guide/financial-life/funding/undergraduate/student-finance-england/

Withdrawing or interrupting from your studies
From September 2012 the Student Loans Company has changed the way that they will be making the payment of tuition fees to Universities. Instead of receiving 2 payments each academic year the University will now receive 3 payments in line with each semester i.e 25% paid in October, 25% paid in February and 50% paid in May.
As a result of this the University has also had to amend the withdrawal/suspension policy from a daily policy to a policy where we charge by semester. From September 2012 onwards ANY student that is in receipt of a tuition fee loan from the Student Loans Company will be charged tuition fees as follows:-

• Withdrawal/suspension between 17/09/2012 – 27/01/2013 – 25% of the total fee will be charged
• Withdrawal/suspension between 28/01/2013 – 14/04/2013 – 50% of the total fee will be charged

Withdrawal/suspension between 15/04/2013 – 07/06/2013 – full tuition fees will be charged

Have the SLC rules changed in light of this, as they have already paid one amount to the Uni ( rather than in Dec as previously) or are they still saying 1st Dec, and would demand their money back from the Uni leaving it up to the student to find it?

Thank you in advance

mountainofdebt

posted this on the other thread but here it is

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/How_Dropping_Out_Will_Affect_Your_Finances

http://www.heruni.com/thinking-about-dropping-out/

mountainofdebt

I think what that section is saying is that because the uni gets its money from SLC in 3 tranches, the amount that the student would have to find personally (if the info from studentroom is correct) depends on when they withdraw.

So if your daughter withdrew now, then she would be liable for 25% of £9k ie £2250 (if my maths is correct,lol) in respect of tution fees alone.

What is your daughter finding so hard about uni (not criticising just wondered if anyone could offer a solution)

kiss_me_now9

It is really early days - if it's a halls and course thing, then that can be changed very easily (it may feel to her like it can't, but it really can).

However if she's totally against staying then she needs to do this sooner rather than later. She also needs to be aware that if she wants to return to university later on, SFE may not support her for more than a 3 year course (for instance, if she wished to do a language degree with a year abroad, she would have to self fund her final year).

dizzyrascal

kiss_me_now9 wrote: »

It is really early days - if it's a halls and course thing, then that can be changed very easily (it may feel to her like it can't, but it really can).

However if she's totally against staying then she needs to do this sooner rather than later. She also needs to be aware that if she wants to return to university later on, SFE may not support her for more than a 3 year course (for instance, if she wished to do a language degree with a year abroad, she would have to self fund her final year).

It is really too late to change her course as they only usually allow this during the first 3 weeks of term and only if there are spaces on the new course. Plus you have to catch up on the work you have missed so more pressure.
The university will have a counselling service which will offer all sorts of help. Ours has relaxation classes and exam stress classes as well as the one to one counselling. Your daughter should find out where they are and make an appointment. They usually see urgent cases quite soon but they might recommend some of their classes. If nothing else she may find friends who feel like she does.
I agree though, she should try to stick it out for a bit longer and try and embrace the opportunity although university life is not for everyone.
If she completes the first year and still wants to move then she will have some academic credits to take with her.

mintymoneysaver

mountainofdebt wrote: »

posted this on the other thread but here it is

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/How_Dropping_Out_Will_Affect_Your_Finances

http://www.heruni.com/thinking-about-dropping-out/

Thankyou for that. The first one looks like it hasn't been updated yet, as obviously this has changed to the £21,000 and also the payments have now changed to the Universities to 3 separate ones ( the first one of which has already been paid)

I absolutely agree that she SHOULD stick it out for a while longer, I have told her this till I'm blue in the face, but when you're 18 you're the only person that's right, aren't you? She hates her hall ( and I don't blame her) catered, isolated and full of post grads and international students, she has only 6 people on her course, she is not enjoying being in a very big city ( Manchester) even thuogh she thought she would, and there are also aspects of the course itself that she doesn't like too.

She has joined a society, but hasn't given any others a chance yet, and I think she has given up on the situation far too early,which is why, as well as her going to student services, which she is doing today I want all the up to date facts for myself as to how this will financially affect her.

I had read about the 1st dec thing, she has no money to pay anythnig back at the moment, which is why I am wondering if anyone knows whehter there have been any changes this year with the changes in loan payments.
My main point is - what would she need to pay back immediately? And what would be carried over till when she earns over £21,000?

Thankyou all for your help. Am rushing out now but will be back to read on tomorrow evening.

Taiko

That's a new thing. Give me some time to check if the regulations have changed significantly to reflect this new policy.

Taiko

Had a read through, and it does seem that they've changed the regulations slightly. Wasn't aware of this though!

By comparison, The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2009 states the following:

Payment of fee loans and fee contribution loans

110.—(1) The Secretary of State must pay the fee loan or fee contribution loan for which an eligible student qualifies to an institution to which the student is liable to make payment.

(2) The Secretary of State may pay the fee loan or fee contribution loan in instalments.

(3) The Secretary of State must not pay the fee loan or fee contribution loan before—

(a)the Secretary of State has received a request for payment from the academic authority; and
(b)a period of three months beginning with the first day of the academic year has expired.

Whereas The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 state:

Payment of fee loans

113.—(1) The Secretary of State must pay the fee loan for which an eligible student qualifies to an institution to which the student is liable to make payment.

(2) The Secretary of State may pay the fee loan in instalments.

(3) The Secretary of State must not pay the fee loan or instalment of fee loan until the Secretary of State has received from the academic authority—

(a)a request for payment; and
(b)confirmation (in such form as may be required by the Secretary of State) of the student’s attendance on the course for the period to which the instalment relates.
(4) In this regulation, “confirmation of the student’s attendance” means confirmation from the academic authority that the student-

(a)has enrolled for the academic year and has begun to attend (or in the case of a distance learning course undertake) the course for that academic year, where the confirmation relates to payment of the fee loan or the first instalment of the fee loan for the academic year; or
(b)remains enrolled and continues to attend (or in the case of a distance learning course undertake) the course, where the confirmation relates to payment of an instalment of the fee loan other than the first instalment.
(5) The academic authority must inform the Secretary of State if a student ceases to attend or undertake the designated course during the academic year.

They have removed the 3 months clause for fee loans, and only applied it to fee contribution loans, which only applied to old-style students.

It's a change in the regulations that I wasn't aware of, probably from not working within the sector anymore. That said, I didn't see any publications of it, or SSIN notes, nor is there a reference in the SFE Guidance Documents for 12/13.

On that basis, I'd say that, even if she left now, she would be entitled to a fee loan.

V_Chic_Chick

I'd suggest a move down to Fallowfield, as it sounds like she's somewhere in Victoria Park (it's got lots of spare spaces this year - I know that for a fact). She can organise it through the accommodation office (which is in Uni Place, the building that looks like a tin can). The added bonus is that Fallowfield can have more of a 'village' feel to it - when you've been there for a while, you can't leave your flat without bumping into someone you know. It's also predominantly British and full of undergrads. If she wants to go self catered, then she would have the choice of Oak House (shared bathroom), Richmond Park or Sheavyn House (en suite).

She may still be able to switch to a similar course. Alternatively they will almost certainly allow her to take this year out and then switch to another course entirely, starting in 2013 (I know someone who switched from Physics to Politics & Economics on that basis). If she wanted to do this, then she'd need to talk to her academic adviser, who she should already have met (or at least, know who they are).

Encourage her to keep going with the society - they can very much 'make' the student experience. If that society doesn't do that much, then encourage her to do a second one as well. Some societies are very much all-enveloping - they manage to morph into sports teams, gym buddies, drinking buddies, groups for meals out, second year housemates, boyfriends etc. etc. and you can be doing stuff with the society almost every day, whereas others (course societies, in particular) seem to do !!!!!! all.

The university counselling service is very efficient, and very good from what I've heard. It's also free, and the friend who uses the service didn't have to wait on a waiting list at all. Part of it may be homesickness - a surprisingly common complaint amongst freshers.

Finally, I know some people who were utterly miserable in first year, to the point of wanting to drop out (I spent a lot of time talking one person out of dropping out!) but have actually come to enjoy their time at Manchester later on.

mintymoneysaver

She is in Fallowfield, but in Ashburne ( wanted Sheavyn or Richmond) which unfortunately is full of post grads and international students, with nothing social having been organised since freshers.She also has put in an application to move, as had the friend who ended up going home. The friend had waited 4 weeks with no alternative offer, even after repeatedly asking. It is so frustrating as I jsut feel if she had only had a sociable hall it would all have been alright. That added to the fact that she is on a course with 6 people on it, is totally narrowing down her chances to meet new people to the point where in a place full of students she feels incredibly isolated.
She went to student services yesterday, but it was closed so is gonig back again today.

Taiko, thanks for that. I did wonder if it would make a difference.Would you suggest I phone student finance to check and confirm?

dizzyrascal

Has your daughter spoken to the residential mentors at all? They are usually masters or PhD students and usually available for a couple of hours per day in the halls that she is assigned to.
They can be very helpful and can see stuff from the students point of view.