Who should pay for kids to go to Uni? Kids or parents?

onomatopoeia99

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

Interesting results so far.. 68% think it's up to the kids

I haven't voted. If you add "the state" to the list of options, I will.

sgm61

Parents - kids need to focus on studying

HI,

My daughter is currently in her 3rd year at Uni in NI - she gets a student loan (less £1200 of full student loan amount due to the fact that we, her parents do not have any other children in full time education and that we earn over the threshold amount) - her student loan this year totals £3300 - her rent is £3500 - so I am funding her rent so that she has money to live on.

I do not expect her to get grants/busuaries etc as i understand there are reserved for those from a lower income background - however I expected my daughter to be able to apply for the FULL loan amount available to her. It will be her paying it back after all and if she wished to choose to borrow the FULL amount available to other students then surely she should have been entitled to do so. The Student Loan Company NI work on the principle that parents will be able to contribute without actually knowing that parents can!! Without my contribution my daughter would have to take a job (and I know a lot of students do work) - however she also does a voluntary placement to help her gain experience to enhance her prospects of paid employment after obtaining her degree (she intends to fully repay her student loans).

I have already funded 2 older children through Uni - same principle as again - I paid rent for them and they received less in student loans than would have covered their rent costs. Again it was expected that I would contribute towards their costs - none of my children received full student loans that were available to others from lower income backgrounds.

Yes my husband and I work - we earn a reasonable salary between us (I work parttime) but we do have outgoings to pay - no benefits, no supports claimed, we pay our taxes in full - yet we and our children are penalised by the way Student Loans are calculated (in my opinion anyway).

I know others may think - well why not, they can afford to pay rent for their daughter - what if we couldn't, in this financial climate every penny does count - we just have to go without (driving 2 x 10yr old cars between us) so that the education of our children is not compromised by lack of funds.

silvercar

Indie_Kid wrote: »

They need to close this loophole. Doesn't seem right that because you've chosen to put so much into a pension, that your children can get more loan and grant.

There are a lot of loopholes that should be closed. Parents splitting up means that only the income of the parent the child declares they live with is taken into account.

Indie_Kid

silvercar wrote: »

There are a lot of loopholes that should be closed. Parents splitting up means that only the income of the parent the child declares they live with is taken into account.

I lived with someone this happened to at uni. She used her mum's income, which is lower than her dad's. If she wanted money, she'd then run to her dad.:mad:

Homeownertobe

Parents - kids need to focus on studying

Indie_Kid wrote: »

They need to close this loophole. Doesn't seem right that because you've chosen to put so much into a pension, that your children can get more loan and grant.

As long as they close the loophole of allowing !!!!less parents to work in minimum wage jobs for part-time hours (or not bother to work at all) so their offspring can claim full grants while decent hard-working people have to struggle through.

Indie_Kid

Homeownertobe wrote: »

As long as they close the loophole of allowing !!!!less parents to work in minimum wage jobs for part-time hours (or not bother to work at all) so their offspring can claim full grants while decent hard-working people have to struggle through.

Not everyone has a choice of where they work and the amount of hours they work. I'm also sure that you ccan't chose your wages either.

What a ridiculous comment to make. People choose to put money into a pension. People don't choose to work part time hours for minimum wage, always.

ariba10

Why no option for Grandparents?

silvercar

Indie_Kid wrote: »

Not everyone has a choice of where they work and the amount of hours they work. I'm also sure that you ccan't chose your wages either.

What a ridiculous comment to make. People choose to put money into a pension. People don't choose to work part time hours for minimum wage, always.

Putting money in a pension means they are less likely to rely on benefits in their retirement.

Once money is put into a pension it cannot be retrieved until retirement, unlike temporary separations where the parents miraculously get back together when their children have finished university.

kpwll

I haven't voted because I also think there should be an option for 'joint effort'.

The only way our son could afford to attend university was to go to the local one, live at home, take out the maximum in student loans and work part-time. The fees (means-tested) were paid by the local authority.
We subsidised his home life but he ran his own car, paid for his own clothes, worked hard and didn't miss out on too much by not going away. He always knew he could come to us and if we could afford it he could have whatever he needed.

He is gradually paying back his student loans.

Homeownertobe

Parents - kids need to focus on studying

Indie_Kid wrote: »

Not everyone has a choice of where they work and the amount of hours they work. I'm also sure that you ccan't chose your wages either.

What a ridiculous comment to make. People choose to put money into a pension. People don't choose to work part time hours for minimum wage, always.

Everyone has that choice. Why should the people who make sacrifices be penalised for that?

People should be rewarded for making the right decisions - such as investing in their pensions - rather than the wrong ones, like relying on benefits.

If before that is made legally explicit, then of course the decent should be allowed to take advantage of loopholes to level the playing field.