using student loan to pay off debts... good or bad idea?

betweenarockandhardplace

*pops head around the door*

hello all, long time reader first time poster, ive searched the forums for some kind of opinions on this but havent really found anything

a bit about me.. 27 years old had a tough 2 years, being signed off from work struggled to keep up payments ended in 7 defaulted accounts between june-november 2016
total debt including other credit cards/agreements i managed to keep up with is £6000

been employed with a well known company for the last 6 months just as a full time cleaner so salary is bleak.
ive been wanting to go to university for years but just never had the guts to go for it thinking i wouldnt be any good and I have 3 children to look after also

i saw an advert for my local university saying courses able to start in January 2018 so I thought what the hell il try and see what happens... I was accepted onto a foundation degree computing 2 year course! always had a kean interest in computing so i thought il give it a good go

i was told at my interview i can apply for maximum student loan of £9740 due to my income being under £25k

now at the moment im not struggling with meeting payments agreed with all my creditors but I thought it maybe a good idea to pay off all my debts including current credit cards and close some and keep 1 open for emergencies.

i dont want to get this loan and then be a typical student and blow it all and have nothing to show for it, paying all my debts off would mean extra money every month to be able to treat myself and the kids and start saving

any extra loan i have left would go into a savings account and used for anything i may need for uni

does this sound ok or a big mistake?

any advise welcome on this

sara77

I thought student loans were to pay off the actual university course fees? and that student finance England/Wales pay direct to the university?

I may be completely wrong though.

betweenarockandhardplace

thats the tuition fee loan which is £8250 which is paid directly to the university and you get a maintenence loan which gets paid to you, works the same way paying it back wise as the tuition fee, pay it back after you owe over £21k although i think that is going up to £25k?

binaryuniverse

I wouldn't recommend paying off the already defaulted accounts. They won't be gathering interest, and they can wait until you have completed the degree and earning a decent wedge. The other, interest accruing, accounts I'd suggest not paying off in full. You need to keep yourself, and your kids, alive whilst doing your course (I assume you'll be keeping the cleaning job, albeit perhaps with reduced hours, to top up the funds?). It's also unlikely your defaulted creditors will accept your offer to pay in full, once you've told them the situation and current earnings.

However, is it possible for you to shuffle the money about, on the active cards, thereby reducing the interest you are paying on the balances? Many providers give existing customer offers for balance transfers, if you ring up and ask. So it may be worth clearing a card that will give a decent interest rate for a balance transfer, then transferring the other balances to that card.

I did pretty much the same thing. Did a degree at 27, with debts I had defaulted on. I just let them pay off at the agreed rate per month. Completed the degree and soon found a career in software development. Very quickly earning enough to just pay off the debts in full. There is definitely light at the en of the tunnel if you stick at it.

betweenarockandhardplace

I would still be working 32 hours a week aswell as uni, my current job are flexible on hours so I can start and finish any time of the day as long as I do my contracted hours every week they don’t mind, I work in a factory so it’s always open, I understand on some days il be doing uni and going straight to work afterwards but it’s got to be done! Can’t really afford to drop my hours below 30 if I can help it

Sncjw

How are you going afford to live on 3k. If your job is 30 hours a week and your doing a uni course on top and looking after three kids it’s a lot to take on. Don’t the uni have set timetable when you need to have lectures. How are you going to do 30 hours a week and then self study on top.

This is just crying out for a burnout. I was at uni doing a nursing course and that’s though. We had to go to uni do exams and assignments for so long. Then we were effectively working 37.5 hours during placements and doing assignments, work for our placements and self study. Now that was hard.

Throw in kids into the mix that’s harder. How you going to live on 3k if you had to give up your job for uni.

Simon11

Plus the fact this is a foundation course. So another two- three years will be required to get a degree.


Have you actually had a go at computing and built a few bits of software with your own code to see if you enjoy it?

arc2014

I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, and I hope this doesn't cone across the wrong way, but do you realise how much work goes into even a foundation degree? I did a computing foundation degree, at college, over 2 years. I was also working just 15 hour weeks, and got the chance to complete some of my college work work as they sent me on the course. It was still tough. I was single & still living at home and I still had very little spare time. I now have 2 children & can't imagine even just doing that right now. I'm sorry but think it's very naive of you to think you can do both. You'll either end up running yourself into the ground & everything will suffer, or you won't have as much time to spend on your degree as you should & then you'll have wasted both time & money. I just think you maybe need to think about this a bit more. It's not as simple as turning up to lectures & getting a qualification out of it.

enthusiasticsaver

A lot of uni courses won't let you work that much. I think you will wear yourself to a frazzle and jeopardise your chances of getting good results. 30 hours is huge on top of uni commitments and 3 children. I think you need to think this through.

betweenarockandhardplace

Thank you all for your replies

I work the 30hours over 6 days, my partner has a good income of £22k+ so we are fine on the money front

I have a btec Level 2 in ICT which I did at 16/17 then I had my first child and my qualifications just stopped there but I want to change that

Uni is only over 3 days a week so isn’t too bad, I’ve worked 12 hour days 6 days a week a few years ago so I have experience of long days

I’ve taken all your comments on board and I thank you for them

Sncjw

You say uni is only 3 days a week. Do you realise they expect you to do self study outside those hours. Your supposed to do study for assignments and exams but also for upcoming lectures. Also you may find your uni timetable can vary each week. Your going to be so tired from uni, self study, work and looking after the home. There’s a a lot of energy used in lectures.

You say your ok on the money front but clearly not if your looking to use student loan to pay debts off.