Do all students have it this bad?!

robnye

mikescott86 wrote: »

I get a £4510 loan (the maximum) and a tuition fee loan of £1300 or something. That's it. I have £4510 to pay rent, bills, buy books, pay for equipment, travel to and from uni, travel to and from home (250 miles away). £4510 isn't much money.

If I was on the "new system" I'd have money thrown at me: even my university offers a £600pa bursary to students whose parents earn what mine do, but only if they're on the "new system". :mad:

this might be a dumb question...... whats the new system?

Voyager2002

I_am_mad wrote: »

How dare you say such a thing, my views on money has nothing to do with how i got into university, for your information I am a uni student, and i got here by working extremely hard!! So for you to judge me on this is very upsetting.

No, not about your views on money. About your ability to assess evidence and draw valid conclusions.

I_am_mad

seems allowed their own own opinion on here and if you do its not valid. wish i had never said anything

Dead_Eye_Jones

As a full time high rate tax payer, id be totally happy to pay for the students who are really keen on learning to go to university. So if this person is getting state support then good for them. If only everyone else did too!

The slight caveat is of course that uni doesnt suit everyone and the idea of pushing those that arent going to benefit from further education into this route is a waste of everyones time/money.

robnye

i also am a higher rate tax payer, but i cant afford to pay for my daughter to go to university...!

jessiskaskaska

Being s student has been one of the hardest things ever for me. I am one of the only people I know who works full time, and goes to uni full time, but still has absolutley no money. My parents can't afford to give me handouts and I just get on with it!

Zziggi

jessiskaskaska wrote: »

Being s student has been one of the hardest things ever for me. I am one of the only people I know who works full time, and goes to uni full time, but still has absolutley no money. My parents can't afford to give me handouts and I just get on with it!

My OH worked full-time and was at uni full-time when he was at university 1993-1997. It half-killed him and it was no fun and the gauling thing was he came out with a better degree than others who didn't even work part-time. I am sure he would have managed a first if he wasn't forced to have worked so much just to survive. Parents not supporting their child is nothing new. He carried on with full-time work straight from getting his degree. He finished his full-time job (that he had at uni) and the following day started his full-time graduate job. Sad thing is 18 months later he hit burn out and developed a serious medical condition and hasn't been able to work since. So much for going to university.

andyrules

dmg24 wrote: »

Those in long term foster care are given additional support to establish themselves into adulthood.

That is quite correct and is so for a good reason.

I'm sure all Looked After Children would choose the parent option given the choice.

poet123

My husband studied for both an undergrad degree and postgrad degree while holding down a full time (37+ hours)managerial position,and during the period when we had our first 2 kids.

So, actually full time students have it easy compared to that!!! I know my kids do,although they think they work sooo hard.

Shoshannah

System definitely flawed.

My parents are divorced and I lived with my mother, so they only took into account her earnings (not much, she's a secretary). As far as SLC are concerned, my father does not contribute. Well, as it turns out he does not contribute a lot (he gives me what he can but he does not have a lot of money) so it doesn't really matter, but in theory he could provide me with a healthy payout that SLC do not take into account. I suppose they could take it into account via the 'other income' sections in the application form.

I started my degree in 2004, before the new tuition fees etc came into force. My tuition fees are about £1100 a year, but the LEA pays all of this as I am from a low-earning family. My sister, who started in 2006, has a loan to cover her fees.

The first two years of my course were in London. I got a loan of about £5500 and a grant of £1000. I recieved £200 help from my university. It was tough, considering my rent was £430 per month.

From third year onwards I have lived with my boyfriend in Hertfordshire for the remainder of the course. Because of my age I am listed as still dependent on my parents so it does not affect my loan. My boyfriend works full time as an IT technician but we still struggle sometimes and I do not consider myself rich by any means. The rent on our flat is £565 per month between us, boyfriend pays Council Tax of £92 per month and also has his own debts to pay off (accumulated before I met him, so nothing to do with me!:rotfl: ).

The past two years my loan has been about £8000, again with a £1000 grant. This is a large amount because I study all year round (I get 4 weeks off per year) but it gets very tight in July-August when the money is running out. I am studying veterinary medicine so I am working on clinics. There is absolutely no question of a part-time job as I work 12 hour days and I am on call most weekends.

I get very little in the way of help from my parents. They help when they can but I try not to rely on them - they have their own lives to worry about and at 23 years old I feel I should try and stand on my own feet. Accumulating so much debt scares me and gets me down sometimes but I owe no money to anyone other than SLC. I have no credit cards, no bank or commercial loans, and my bank account is in credit.

Because of the nature of my course (very white, upper middle-class and female), a lot of my friends are from well off families. None of my immediate circle have loans because their parents fund their rent, bills, even their car insurance. Sometimes I feel it terribly unjust that they have a relatively easy ride, but I guess you can't choose your parents and mine are very very supportive of me despite the fact they can't shower me with cash. Unlike my friends, I bought my car myself (£250 from Ebay, she's super reliable), and I pay my own fuel, tax, insurance and repairs. Hell, I even service it myself as much as I can.

Having said that, I don't drink or smoke so I save loads on that front!