Money Moral Dilemma: Is it 'morally wrong' to use student discounts aged 55?

FifiRossi

That's like saying it's morally wrong to be a student at 55. I'm an Open Uni student, whilst working full-time with two grown up children. I use student discounts and NHS staff discounts whenever I remember to use my card There's also Amazon Prime for students but I don't have time for it.

bettyboo71

I'm 50 and a part-time student. I have my totum/nus card and will use it as much as I can. 
I'm paying my own course fees, I'm not working, and there's nowhere in the terms that has any sort of age/hours of study restriction. Student discount is no different from any other promotional discount offered by a company to any particular group of people.  
If you qualify for it, you would be silly not to use it - we're all on MoneySavingExpert for goodness sake!

A_Lert

No. Your son's being a bit of a twit.

It would only be wrong if a discount is explicitly for full time students, but retailers and service providers don't usually bother making that distinction.

Susmcl

No its fine!

REJP

You satisfy the criteria for being a student.  If your son does not like you getting student discounts he is the one with the problem, not you.  Hopefully he will grow up one day.
As for comment that you should not get discounts because you have a job, ask how many students have jobs while at university.  I was a part time mature student while holding down a job.  I had to pass the same exams as the full time students in the same subjects so I did not feel guilty about using student discounts or buying cheap drinks in the Student Union bar.
I wish you every success in your exams and hope the qualification leads to a better future.  Good luck.

NowVillager

If your course qualifies, go ahead. I imagine you wouldn't be asking the question if you felt you didn't need it.

ece9600

I’m a student and I’m 44. I use student discounts- why wouldn’t I? I don’t understand why this is even a question. 

I think your son is being a little ageist and perhaps narrow-minded about what constitutes a “proper” student. 

neilmorgan

From what I remember, most of the discounts are by using the NUS card. I'm not sure about things like the railcards etc.
To benefit you need to be a member of the students union and they negotiate deals for their members, just like lots of other unions do. As a member you are entitled to the same benefits as all other members. Simple.

cannugec5

I was a mature (50+) student with the OU and took advantage of all the student perks including discounted Amazon Prime and Microsoft office deals. I also took advantage of the HP Student store to purchase a new pc, laptop and printer. 

Not for one minute did I consider any of this morally wrong. I was a student. 

And now I am very proud of my degree! 

banana_anna

It’s not at all wrong. I’ve worked at universities and people who work at universities are allowed to take advantage of student discounts with many different companies. So a mature student at 55 would be far more ‘morally’ correct to take ‘advantage’ of the discounts. It is not wrong at all.