Student loan received - but nothing to spend it on

g2311

Never thought we'd be in this position, but both daughters (1st year and 3rd year) are by necessity studying from home (our home), and so have little to spend their student loans on.

The 3rd year has some rent to pay but the 1st year will thankfully be refunded for the time she's not there.

Both get the full loan so both have just received over £3k for this term, what to do with it? 

Can they return it (or most of it) and reduce their overall student debt?

Any other suggestions?

Mickey666

What's the point of taking the loan if you don't need it - unless you think you'll never have to pay it or any of the interest back?
Personally, I'd be sending it back.

fred246

They will be borrowing their fees so it probably won't make a difference to how much they pay back. They should save it. At some stage they will probably want a deposit to buy a house. Young workers nowadays find it hard to save enough and so end up buying their first house much later than previous generations. The repayments will be the same however much they borrow for many years. If they are massive earners year after year there is a chance they may pay more but only after probably 20-25 years. Females are probably more likely to have time out when the loan just grows. After 30 years it is written off. Just save it.

fred246

You need to read Martin Lewis's guide on student finance and then play with some figures. After a 3 years course they will owe 3x£9250 + 3*?4.5K. Around £40K. They only pay back a small monthly payment if their income is high enough. And they keep adding interest! So unless they are high earners their 'loan' just gets bigger! It doesn't matter because it is written off after 30 years. So the only risk is that after 20 - 30 years they would still be having a deduction that they would otherwise have paid off. But this is only the case if they are very high earners year after year after year (in which case a monthly payment won't bother them too much).

silvercar

83% of students don’t pay their loan off in full and the remainder is written off. Giving any money back is effectively gifting money to the government 83% of the time. Don’t do it.

Mickey666

I suppose there's some logic in all that, it's just that I'm very debt-averse.
Still, I suppose someone could max out their student loan at this time, use it for deposits on some BTL properties and then live off the rental.  I understand rental is regarded as income rather than employment so there would be no student loan repayments if other employment income remains below £21/£25k (or whatever the figure is now), then just string it out for 30 years when it's all written off.  Could be a plan

strawb_shortcake

I've heard of people doing a degree before and after they've retired, take the full loans knowing full well they'll never pay it back

silvercar

Mickey666 said:

I suppose there's some logic in all that, it's just that I'm very debt-averse.
Still, I suppose someone could max out their student loan at this time, use it for deposits on some BTL properties and then live off the rental.  I understand rental is regarded as income rather than employment so there would be no student loan repayments if other employment income remains below £21/£25k (or whatever the figure is now), then just string it out for 30 years when it's all written off.  Could be a plan

No restriction on student income, loans assessed on parental income.

silvercar

annabanana82 said:

I've heard of people doing a degree before and after they've retired, take the full loans knowing full well they'll never pay it back

bit old to enjoy student life.

MalMonroe

silvercar said:

annabanana82 said:

I've heard of people doing a degree before and after they've retired, take the full loans knowing full well they'll never pay it back

bit old to enjoy student life.

How rude. I started my full time undergrad course at a Russell University in my 50s and graduated when I was 53 with a 2.1 BA Hons. I loved student life and mixed with all age groups, there weren't many mature students and the mature students I met had a tendency to be a bit dull and boring, most of them younger than me. Younger students didn't treat me any differently and I had a whale of a time. I'm still really good friends with four of them. They do say that friends you make at uni become friends for life and that's true whatever age you start. Certainly for me, anyway.

In my experience, you are NEVER too old to enjoy life, student life or any other. Maybe I'm getting more sensitive to ageism the older I get but to my mind you should never use age as an excuse to avoid anything, including living a great life! My next step, as soon as coronavirus is over, is to learn to fly a plane. Never say die!  But please stop thinking that older people should be written off. That's just ageist.

(And I DID pay back my loans, for what it's worth!!)

silvercar

MalMonroe said:

silvercar said:

annabanana82 said:

I've heard of people doing a degree before and after they've retired, take the full loans knowing full well they'll never pay it back

bit old to enjoy student life.

How rude. I started my full time undergrad course at a Russell University in my 50s and graduated when I was 53 with a 2.1 BA Hons. I loved student life and mixed with all age groups, there weren't many mature students and the mature students I met had a tendency to be a bit dull and boring, most of them younger than me. Younger students didn't treat me any differently and I had a whale of a time. I'm still really good friends with four of them. They do say that friends you make at uni become friends for life and that's true whatever age you start. Certainly for me, anyway.

In my experience, you are NEVER too old to enjoy life, student life or any other. Maybe I'm getting more sensitive to ageism the older I get but to my mind you should never use age as an excuse to avoid anything, including living a great life! My next step, as soon as coronavirus is over, is to learn to fly a plane. Never say die!  But please stop thinking that older people should be written off. That's just ageist.

(And I DID pay back my loans, for what it's worth!!)

You’re right. Apologies.
It comes from me always saying to my husband, who I actually met at university, that I wish I could be a student again; he reminds me that being a 50 something at university won’t be the same experience as being 18.