MSE News: Student loans are not big enough 30 September 2013 at 10:09AM in Student MoneySaving 94 replies 11.9K views

Former_MSE_Guy

"The amount students are given to live off risks failing to cover the basics..."

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Student loans are not big enough




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Lokolo

Surely it is the high cost of housing you should complain about, not the student loans?

Charles Morris Hall, University of Leeds charges £182/week (£7,000 for the academic year)

Come on, £182 a WEEK for a ROOM in a SHARED hall, IN LEEDS?!

miller

I think the 10 Key Facts section definitely needs a health warning asterix e.g.

*Correct at the time of writing, current & future goverments may and probably will move the goalposts to your detriment.

MiniDF

Most of the students I know are having to do some pretty strict budgeting, you get less money every year too which doesn't help. While most of us can work a few hours a week to give us some more breathing space some students such as the medics just don't have the time or energy to go to work after a full day at uni or placement.

Taiko

MiniDF wrote: »

Most of the students I know are having to do some pretty strict budgeting, you get less money every year too which doesn't help. While most of us can work a few hours a week to give us some more breathing space some students such as the medics just don't have the time or energy to go to work after a full day at uni or placement.

There's only a reduction in student finance in the final year, so I'm not sure where you're getting this from.

The cost of the accomodation seems horrid, which would lead me to believe that the universities are, to some extent, profiteering off the backs of a captive audience. Granted, students can privately rent, but in a first year the chances of them being willing and able to do so are small.

Without taking the time to look into it myself, I can't help but think the article has looked at the more expensive accomodation at those universities. Will be happy to be proven otherwise, but I wouldn't be surprised if those were the top end HoR, rather than your basic stuff.

Sharon87

I agree the accomodation costs are way too much. They're better off living in a shared house than halls! My uni halls (from 2005-2008) were about £60 a week. My rent in shared house in a town was between £200 and £250 (I lived in 2 houses) a month. Ok so housing has gone up, but for the universities to be charging an amount only the rich can afford is just another way of saying they don't want poor people!!

If you were living in London in a shared house you could pay around £500 a month (for a small room, or in a not so nice area), which is £6000 per year - still cheaper than some halls of residence.

lolita2013

My daughter is a First Year Student studying in Wales. Once her Accomadation has been paid for ( £108 per week) she is left with £14.00 a week to live on. That is adding the Student Loan and Grant together. We are not well off but we are helping as much as we can so that she has enough money to buy food etc . Yes she did have a summer job which helped to pay for the things she needed to start her first Term and is currently looking for a few hours work where she is studying.

devildog

I agree that something needs to be done, most students do not have much left over (if anything) after paying for accommodation and I do think it is because they are a somewhat captive market.
However, I think the MSE news article is also somewhat misleading-the price quoted for Charles Morris Hall, Leeds is for an en-suite room and is classed as catered (12 meals a week) which isn't made clear and obviously although students do need to eat they do not need an en-suite room (unless for medical reasons)

lolita2013

Just to add to my Post my Daughter was not given any choice of where she would be living as all the Students studying the same Subject as herself were housed on four floors of the same block. I know of some of her friends living in England that pay around the same amount each week (£100 +). All things considered it seems to be a fair price to pay but there is not much over each week for them to live on.

GeneHunt_2

If parents really are poor there is plenty of money out there for students in the form of maintenance grants, bursaries etc on top of the maximum student loans.

For the rest - well surely we can expect parents to put their hand in their pockets - why does the tax payer have to pay for everything !!!!!!?

miller

There needs to be more accountability/justification for the massive salaries awarded to vice-chancellors. Soaking students for up to £9k pa, whilst a lot of them are on £300k is wrong IMO.