parental contribution for uni students

sulphate

Skinto_7 wrote: »

This probably won’t help with your initial question, however as someone haspreviously highlighted the most important thing you can do is teach them tobudget and make them responsible for their finances.

My brother went to Uni and did not ask for or receive any regular allowancefrom my parents, he always had a part time job to help fund him through Uni, myMrs on the otherhand had regular monthly payments, never had to work andalthough had a much easier ride as a result, never really learnt the value ofmoney or what things are like in the real world.

Although they are your kids and you don’t want them to starve etc, it istheir choice to go away to Uni and IMO it should be upto them to find the wayto fund it, the experience of doing this is way more valuable and useful thananything they will learn in their classroom at Uni!

I can see both sides. I have friends who were totally funded by their parents through uni and didn't have to work at all, and not only did they not really live in the "real world", but they also had difficulty finding a job afterwards. Once they realized they couldn't get a "graduate job", they didn't have any work experience that would help them get anything else.

But I also don't think parents should expect their children to live on very little whilst at uni if they enjoy luxuries. Particularly if they earn a lot because their household income affects how much the student can get as a loan - the more they earn, the less their children will be entitled to. When my husband was at uni his parents didn't help him, even though they could definitely afford it - they drove/drive brand new cars, take 3 holidays a year, had meals out 2-3 times a week, were mortgage free and earned decent salaries. Of course, it's up to them what they do with their money, I just thought it was a bit sad.

jackyann

Our family has a lot of experience around university funding, from one who had a full grant (back in the day), various types of partial help, through self-funding and student loans.
Here's my take (apart from obviously, what you can actually afford):
use any calculators as a guide only
Talk to friends & family you are close to & get their experiences
Think and talk about your guiding principles around higher education: some families believe that the student should essentially self-finance, others that they should concentrate on studies & not be distracted too much.
What can they realistically earn in a job that is going to at best, enhance their studies & experience / at worst not take time & energy best spent on uni work? This varies hugely: if you are studying things like tourism, hospitality, marketing, retail etc. you can get experience from a lot of jobs. Working in a care home with basic training can be great for anyone in medicine / social care / nursing etc. But one of our family struggled hugely with the demands of a science degree at a top university and McDonalds (lectures morning, lab work afternoon, write up lab work evening, work weekends!)
Have you taught your child to manage money and how good will they be at it? I don't subscribe to the idea of learning a hard lesson when you should be studying something else, but it is true that with some kids it's the only thing that works!
Time for good talk and clear expectations, both financial and study-wise. Good luck!

Buzzybee90

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I have to disagree with that. Outside expensive cities like Oxford, anybody who receives the full loan/grant should be able to manage perfectly well, only needing to work for luxuries and/or unusual expenses.

My money was £13 a week, is that really enough to live on?

Buzzybee90

GwylimT wrote: »

The grant isn't extra financial help while at university, it just isn't included when you start to repay your loan.

But a lot of people aren't eligible for the grant?

missbiggles1

GwylimT wrote: »

The grant isn't extra financial help while at university, it just isn't included when you start to repay your loan.

The grant reduces the loan but not on a pound by pound basis so it's certainly extra financial help.

missbiggles1

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

My money was £13 a week, is that really enough to live on?

But did you get the full loan/grant/bursary package?

Buzzybee90

missbiggles1 wrote: »

But did you get the full loan/grant/bursary package?

No, I didn't get a grant or bursary, about 2 people I knew did.

missbiggles1

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

No, I didn't get a grant or bursary, about 2 people I knew did.

Well then you don't come into the category I was talking about when I said "anybody who receives the full loan/grant should be able to manage perfectly well", do you?

Buzzybee90

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Well then you don't come into the category I was talking about when I said "anybody who receives the full loan/grant should be able to manage perfectly well", do you?

I read it as full loan and/or grant, seeings as you used a forward slash.

GwylimT

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

But a lot of people aren't eligible for the grant?

No, in which case all borrowing is paid back if you earn enough for long enough.