Postgraduate Loan

Esloco

Hi Everyone,

I will be starting postgraduate study in September. I have savings available to me, but I am wondering whether it would be better to take a Postgrad loan and save the money for a house deposit, or spend the savings.
With a postgrad loan it will be a £10,000 loan with 6.1% interest rates and I will have to pay 6% of everything I earn over £21,000 to the loan until it is paid off. I will be required to pay this back alongside my undergrad loan (about £36,000) which is also 6.1% interest and needs to be paid back from 9% of everything I earn over £25,000.

jonesMUFCforever

Personally I would not get into more debt if I had the money to do a postgraduate course.

SarahGriffiths

I am in the same position and have decided to take the loan after thinking about it a lot and getting advice.

The post graduate loan is designed to be affordable and you will never get another loan with terms as good as this.

If you have an extra 10k to put towards a house deposit - that could likely improve your mortgage terms and if like me its your first property - getting on the housing ladder should be a priority as renting is dead money.

andrewmp

SarahGriffiths wrote: »

I am in the same position and have decided to take the loan after thinking about it a lot and getting advice.

The post graduate loan is designed to be affordable and you will never get another loan with terms as good as this.

If you have an extra 10k to put towards a house deposit - that could likely improve your mortgage terms and if like me its your first property - getting on the housing ladder should be a priority as renting is dead money.

Plenty of loans available at a lower rate. I agree for undergraduate, but I'm not so sure about the post grad loans.

SarahGriffiths

Although the rate is slightly higher - as you only pay back 6% of what you earn over 21k and only when you are earning the terms are much better. If you want to buy a property which is likely to appreciate in value and save you £6000 a year in rent then it seems to be a priority.

DrEskimo

Have you tried to secure funding through appropriate funding bodies (research councils, charities, etc.)? Alternatively, does the department at the university have any available funding?

It took me a couple of years whilst I continued to work at my uni, but eventually I secured funding to do mine, which included the stipend for living expenses.

agrinnall

DrEskimo wrote: »

Have you tried to secure funding through appropriate funding bodies (research councils, charities, etc.)? Alternatively, does the department at the university have any available funding?

It took me a couple of years whilst I continued to work at my uni, but eventually I secured funding to do mine, which included the stipend for living expenses.

I'd guess that the OP is doing a Masters degree, for which there is little or no funding available. It sounds like you were doing a doctorate.

DrEskimo

agrinnall wrote: »

I'd guess that the OP is doing a Masters degree, for which there is little or no funding available. It sounds like you were doing a doctorate.

Yes reading it again I think you're right.

Although if a PhD was something they were wanting to do eventually, there are some funding bodies that offer 1+3 studentships, whereby the funding covers a MA in the first year, and PhD in the following 3yrs.