Students confused mum

kari59

Help and please be kind its my first time here.

My daughter decided last week that she was going to uni after all. She has already sorted out the tuition fees. Her maintanance loan will only cover half of her accommodation costs though. How are students supposed to feed themselves etc. Obviously our income is too 'high' for a bigger maintenance loan, and of course we will help as much as we can but we have a big mortgage. Should she get a student loan from a bank and if so which one is best.

CLAPTON

Student loans should be over 3000 per year... is she really going to pay 6000 per year in accommodation... where is she going to UNI?

Student bank a/c will typically give interest free overdrafts of over 1000 .. the details should be available about now for this years deals

It will be difficult to get bank loans at sensible rates as she has no income unless you get the loan in your name and lend her the money.

Otherwise she will need to get a job or be funded by her parents.

soolin

CLAPTON wrote: »

Student loans should be over 3000 per year... is she really going to pay 6000 per year in accommodation... where is she going to UNI?
.

The South East!

OK it isn't £6000 but my son pays nearly £4000 per year accomodation, plus he also needs to spend money on books, food travel etc. Add to that the fact that the uni themselves tell students that working too many hours is a very bad idea..and you can see where it all starts to go wrong. He works for £4.45 an hour which goes nowhere.

So the £3000 student loan needs to be topped up either by parents , by work or by borrowing probably by another £2000 a year if the student lives frugally and doesn't pay out travelling to go home a lot.

Stubert

As pointed out by Clapton if you're just getting the maintenance loan you'll get at least £3100ish. Are there no other halls that are cheaper? Most unis have sets of older halls that are cheaper but a little more scummy. Is there any catered places? They can often strangely be cheaper as well.

£4000 is extremely expensive! Is it The Ritz? Paying that sort of price it must be of at least a very high standard and en-suite etc?


The RBS Student bank account has an overdraft of up £2500. I don't know if you'd be entitled to that amount in your first year though but you could ask.

kr15snw

When I originally looked Halls down here in Plymouth were about £4000.

Unfortunately the rest of the money has to come from yourself and herself. Hence she will have to get a job, and you are probably going to have to support her.

If she doesnt want to get a job then she will be using overdrafts and credit cards Im afraid!

thecrazyone

Most of my MSE skills come from the good old student days.

My parents earned well over the top end of things were the government decides that students should pay full fees (they were only 1k then) and get the min loan BUT I had to pay for everything myself. For whatever reasons my parents did not believe it was their responsibility to pay for my education. They very much wanted me to go to uni but they were not paying. They could have payed for me but they choose not to.

I had to go to a uni close to home (thankfully it was a well respected good university) and live with my parents but I had to pay my way. I had to pay for fees, books, food, travel (which was a lot as we weren't exactly beside the university), general life and my way in the house.

I paid for it with the student loan, a student account overdraft (you can get up to 2K easily enough interest free), working during term time up to 16 hrs per week and working from 20 to 60 hrs a week (whatever I could get) on the summer holidays. I would take 4 weeks off in the summer to rest.

I would either take unpaid holidays or leave the job if they wouldn't give me the time off during the month of my exams. My one rule was never work the month of my exams. I also had a good social life and got to travel.

I got a high first class honors so my studies never suffered. I appreciate my education and know the value of money. I had to work so hard to pay for my education I wasn't going to waste it by not doing well.

My advice to parents is encourage your child to pay for as much as they can and don't make it so easy for them. Many 18 yr olds see this as their right to go out and party. If they have to pay for it, they'd think twice about throwing it away.

I suggest 12 hrs a week part-time job as most students can cope with those hours and full-time hours during the summer. If you are giving money to your child never do it straight in cash. Pay for part of the rent or the fees as you at least know what the money is going on.

Good luck

kari59

Sorry no she has a loan to cover fees, its just the maintenance loan only covers half of the fees for hall of residence.

Thanks to all for replies so far.

Rosieeex

kari59 wrote: »

Sorry no she has a loan to cover fees, its just the maintenance loan only covers half of the fees for hall of residence.

Thanks to all for replies so far.

I'm in the same position as your daughter. My parents earn too much to get me a big enough loan, but have a big mortage so don't have much cash to spare at all.

My mum and dad have decided to set up a standing order of £50 a month each to me, and if I need somem oney and they can afford to give it to me then they will.

She's just going to have to save up now.

The rent doesn't have tob e paid all in one go, so she could try working somewhere local over christmas to pay her January rent.

CLAPTON

kari59 wrote: »

Sorry no she has a loan to cover fees, its just the maintenance loan only covers half of the fees for hall of residence.

Thanks to all for replies so far.

i'm still curious which Uni she's going to that charges over 6k for a hall of residence

Lavendyr

It's always those in the middle who get squeezed the worst

I went to uni in the south-east and accommodation was around £2700 per year. She should be able to pay for that out of her loan. Books can be borrowed from the library and essential ones bought second-hand. Depending on the uni, she can walk or cycle to lectures instead of catching the bus. And you'd be surprised how cheaply students can eat. Yes, it's not pleasant, but for many students that is what university is like - a good education in money-saving.

As for working, she could work a few hours part-time in term time, but she should get a job over the vacations. I worked every vacation I had and still managed to get a first-class degree so it doesn't need to impact on studies.

With a student account she can get an interest-free overdraft of around £1000 which will act as a good buffer, but I would encourage her to earn money rather than borrow it.

By the way, £4.45ph would be under the national minimum wage, are you sure this is what your son is earning?

Helix

Lavendyr wrote: »

By the way, £4.45ph would be under the national minimum wage, are you sure this is what your son is earning?

The minimum wage for ages 18-21 is £4.25ph. Its only when your over 21 that it becomes £5.35ph.