how to raise £8k for daugther's college year?

Lily-Rose_3

This has got disaster written all over it!

I agree with the people who have already posted; don't do it! No matter how much you want to assist your daughter, this is a VERY bad idea. Especially as you already have a ruck of debt!

I also think you are doing her no favours by doling out £8K to her willy nilly. Why can she not just study local?

She needs to find employment and fund this herself (some of it at least,) and you can maybe help her with what you can afford...)

It's fine for people to throw money at their kids if they want to (and don't want them to stand on their own two feet!) But only if they can afford to do it. Taking a £8 LOAN out to hand over to your daughter for a YEAR at college is just utterly absurd! :eek:

She needs to at least make SOME effort to fund herself. At least partly.

missbiggles1

duchy wrote: »

Is it a specific course or a general arts foundation ?

If not specific - why so far ?

It's summer now has she started looking for work ? If she found work now she could make a big dent.

Same goes for your wife- if she found a job with more hours or a second job to help fund/clear debt.

Would an alternative be an arts based NVQ locally which would be funded and still get her into university ?

I also assumed that it was a foundation course in art because that's usually the one that people have trouble in funding and I agree that there are ways to get round the need for doing one by choosing a different route.

Unfortunately, the OP hasn't come back with more information which might have allowed people to help him.:(

gayleygoo

owlet wrote: »

I would definitely look at the Open University - she can study from home as well as work in order to save for future study . Even if she doesn't want or need further studies it would be good for her to get a savings pot going.

The OU are excellent & offer a wide range of courses. It really would be your best plan - you simply can't afford further debt. She may also be eligible for funding of the fees from the OU in her own right , rather than you financing.

I often recommend the OU too, but in this case the OP's daughter is doing an A-level equivalent course, rather than a degree. With a high household ncome, she wouldn't be entitled to help with OU fees either, but gets the A-level course paid for.

What is the £8k for? I don't remember my A-levels costing my parents that much, I lived at home and my bus pass was free. If she is living away from home, she really should be working some to help pay her way. If it was me in the situation, I think I'd be looking at deferring for a year while she saves up and you get some debt paid off. It's great parenting that you want to provide her with education, buts she probably won't appreciate you financially crippling yourself if she doesn't contribute at least a little. And what happens after this year? If she continues her studies it's only going to get more expensive, so you need to plan for it!

Gaz83

There is little point in continuing to ask questions.

The OP hasn't received the answers they're looking for, so won't be back.

976TXoo

Firstly, apologies for not being able to reply sooner due to a very busy time at work and also on the home front.

Sincere thanks to everyone for taking the time to give your advice and views. As several posters touch on the same points, I've taken time over a couple of days to come back on those observations and questions rather than reply to each post individually – hope that's okay for forum etiquette:

- daughter could take a year out to work and save
I had assumed I would be able to source the extra credit between both of us, but if not – which seems to be the general opinion – this will have to be an option, though it would put her behind her contemporaries by a year.

- part time, OU study or apprenticeship (au pair work during a part time course)
Extensive research only yielded a handful of places offering the required type of course, and the one chosen offers the best mix of content, resources and contact with industry.

- doing a different course
as above

- risk of dropping out
unlikely as she's spent a long time researching the few courses that contain the content she's looking for as a preparatory step to going on to uni. The alternative would be to go straight to a degree with a three-year commitment to one subject where the risk of dropping out would be far higher.

- £8k estimate too low
Best calculation going on self-catering halls of residence, using the college's estimated costs and looking at public transport

- study closer to home
answered above on choice of course

- bursaries
our joint salary is to high to qualify for anything after considerable looking

- danger of greater debt
certainly a risk but one I'm prepared to consider to give my daughter the best possible start on her higher education

- service greater debt
I was expecting to use a mix of a loan and a balance transfer card - hence this post for the best options - applied for between my wife and I, and then keep repayments manageable through future zero interest balance transfers

- wife (or me) to increase income
Not possible for me, though am hoping for a slight salary increase this year at some point. For various reasons, my wife is unable to obtain further hours with her employer at the moment.

- likely income from my daughter's expected summer and winter jobs
would depend on the type of job and hours worked (the college advise not doing more than 15hrs a week so as not to affect studies)

- renting out her room
not an option as we'd want to keep it for her or her brother to use when back at home

- daughter appreciating the cost of the course
a valid point as, previously, as in the first answer, I'd thought I would be able to source the extra debt

- Residential Support School
I'd not heard of this and will follow the link. Many thanks.

AnotherJoe

take a year out to work and save
I had assumed I would be able to source the extra credit between both of us, but if not – which seems to be the general opinion – this will have to be an option, though it would put her behind her contemporaries by a year

---

Seriously ? What about all the students who take gap years and travel ( or work? ) or both. Who redid an A level year at school? Who worked for several years to save up. She's not in a race.

barbarawright

A year behind her contemporaries isn't really an issue. Not future employer will care if she's 21 or 22 at the end of her course. But they *will* care if she's got work experience. Doesn't matter if it's not in her chosen field - it just looks much better on a new graduate CV to have done a job, whether in a shop or cafe or art gallery or whatever she can get. It shows she can get to work on time and organise herself and that's important wherever you work

Lungboy

Agreed, I work at a university and being a year behind her contemporaries is meaningless. What foundation course and what degree does she want to do?

ViolaLass

I took a gap year and thus was nominally a year behind my peers.

When it has come up at all, it has always been viewed as a good thing (because I did useful things in that year out).

BrassicWoman

a year behind doesn't matter

you can rent a room for a few weeks at a time. you just have to value helping offspring more than your own privacy. So a choice.