uni fees

nutty1

does everyone have to pay these in full. my son is thinking of going, me and his dad are not working, will he still have to take a loan for the full fees. £3xxx.

Stubert

He may well get a bursary toward them as it would appear you're earning under £30k (I think thats the amount anyway) he wouldn't have to pay back. Even if he did have to pay back the money he wouldn't have to do it until he was earning over £15k and then it would only come out as a tax.

computersaysdoh

kathrynt wrote: »

does everyone have to pay these in full. my son is thinking of going, me and his dad are not working, will he still have to take a loan for the full fees. £3xxx.

Are you aware that when they bought in top fees in Oct 2006, they also brought back the means tested grant, with a lot less publicity? People on a low income should be able to get a full grant (and possibly a bursary mentioned already, which I think, but am not sure, are governed by individual uni policy).
Another thing to note. If your income changes during the time your son/daughter is at uni, then remember each summer that you get reassessed based on previous full tax years income - for some this will act in their favour, but if your income drops, could work against.
Regarding the original question on fees, I am 90% sure these are payable by all, and the loan for that of course is repayable when the student earns enough later. NB. If my son is right, this is taken BEFORE the course starts, so on the first day, Mr/Miss student is already in debt. . . . . .

kr15snw

His fees will be paid for him but he will have to pay them back once he is earning over 15k a year.

If you and your husband are not working then he will be entitled to grants and bursaries (this vary depending on the uni). He will also get the student loan that everyone can get (well almost). Its up to him how he uses this money. He can put it back to pay off his tuition fees or he can spend it on anything he wants! I used mine to live for the year and pay for uni related materials etc.

But he wont get any help towards the fee's, other than not having to pay them yet! Which personally I think is good enough, I dont have to pay it until Im earning and I wont mind then

computersaydoh: Your son is right, they take the money on the day you register. For me it was £3000, this year it will be £3070 for new students. This will probably continue to rise each year though!

Stubert

The tuition fee money is paid directly by the student loans company to the university so the student doesn't see it at all, this then gets added to the amount they have to pay back when they start earning over the set amount.

Your son from the sounds of it would be entitled to a bigger loan (although means he would have to pay more back but as stated elsewhere cheapest loan you'll ever get); but a few of my friends have got bursaries in their maintenance grants which they don't have to pay back at all. Generally in the region of about £1200 per year I think. But in all those cases they've all had at least one parent working so you may be able to get more.

Uni fees are a little different (sorry I know less about them and have rambled about the other stuff) but you may get a bursary from the university directly (as usually they want to encourage the poorer students to go and often do them by course (i.e. grants to do science/engineering subjects etc.)) or from your LEA.

kr15snw

To clarify what Stubert said and to add a few details to it.

My situation is similar, my dad earns but my mum doesnt so I am under the cut off point.

I get a £2700 grant which I dont pay back.
My fees are paid for, but I have to pay this back (pretty much everyone gets this).
Because I get the full grant I am entitled to bursaries from my college, this was about £1000.
Because I get the full grant I get a lower loan. I got about £2200.

Not many places offer bursaries to help with the fees, because you dont have to pay them off yet. It has nothing to do with your parents now, Its down to the student themselves (when they get a job). Which I think is fairer.

freebie_junkie

im still assesd on my parents (as im under 25 eventhough i live with my oh!) after the reduction for my sister (she lives at home and is under 18 and in full-time education so they deducted £1800 from my parents income) their income falls under the first threashold

im doing a full-time PGDE and will get:
£2040 in fees loan (paid direct to the uni- leaving £800 in top-up fees for me to pay from my loan)
£3675 maintenance loan
£2765 maintenance grant
£6000 DFES bursary

the latter two are not repayable but the loans i will ahve to repay along with the ones i took out for my undergrad degree once im earning over £15,000 (but according to my book, it soon goes up to £17,000)

last year i also got two more bursaries of £150 each to make up for the top-up fees, i don't know if this is just for undergrads but i didn't find out about it until january anyway.