Cost Of University

[Guest55]

Makes no sense at all to borrow money to pay for uni fees is my first point. You will pay far more interest than your child. But if you have the cash, great. Many of us don't. We don't. I have faith (because I have to) that the mortgage situ will work ok (We've time to watch) and that they will indeed lend on outgoings not the size of debt. That being said, if you only pay 10% of your net income once you earn over £21k, then hopefully that won't be too large.
There is nowt wrong with working through uni, both in your free time and holidays. I did both and ended up in big income job for 18 years, as did my friend who is a doctor (she worked as a health care assistant).
Its very dispiriting for the many of us who can't afford to pay for our children through uni to constantly hear about how terrible it is and how unless you pay your children are doomed. It is as it is and we need to find a way to manage it, but personally, even if we could afford it, I still expect my children to get jobs through uni to help support themselves.

My DS does not have time for a job - his contact time is about 25 hours lectures plus workshops. He has ongoing coursework and assignments and could not commit to any hours on a regular basis.

No-one has guaranteed that the terms of the loans won't change - they are already paying 3% above base rate from day one of the course.

[SteveDH]

play with this

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.c ... calculator

depending on the future your DC may end up paying less the the original loan especially if its a 4 year course.

note depending on your earnings your DC may also get a grant from the government too.

however, even though we're going through a bit of a poor period at the moment, and even though our DD got a pretty high grant and maintenance loan, by the time the required (not optional) accommodation costs were taken off she was left with almost nothing to survive with.

also the way the work out how much to give doesn't work well with my rather unpredictable income...

[Yamin151]

Makes no sense at all to borrow money to pay for uni fees is my first point. You will pay far more interest than your child. But if you have the cash, great. Many of us don't. We don't. I have faith (because I have to) that the mortgage situ will work ok (We've time to watch) and that they will indeed lend on outgoings not the size of debt. That being said, if you only pay 10% of your net income once you earn over £21k, then hopefully that won't be too large.
There is nowt wrong with working through uni, both in your free time and holidays. I did both and ended up in big income job for 18 years, as did my friend who is a doctor (she worked as a health care assistant).
Its very dispiriting for the many of us who can't afford to pay for our children through uni to constantly hear about how terrible it is and how unless you pay your children are doomed. It is as it is and we need to find a way to manage it, but personally, even if we could afford it, I still expect my children to get jobs through uni to help support themselves.

My DS does not have time for a job - his contact time is about 25 hours lectures plus workshops. He has ongoing coursework and assignments and could not commit to any hours on a regular basis.

No-one has guaranteed that the terms of the loans won't change - they are already paying 3% above base rate from day one of the course.

Great, you can say that if you are able to manage to support him. I say again, many of us can't. It's up to you how much you support him, but my oldest friends, now a consultant, worked as a health care assistnat all through her medical degree. Are you saying a medical degree is less onerous!? Many many people work a 37 hour week and then hours on top, your son is doing 25. Lucky boy does not have to get a job as you are helping out. Absolutely your choice, good for you, but not an option for most of us and even if it were, we would still expect them to get a job. Prioritising your time and learning that the world does not owe you a living teaches so much as well as giving them more financial independence.

[Guest55]

25 hours of LECTURES plus workshops ...read my post properly and then work on top of that of at least as much again. Yes, I think he does have more work than a medical degree ...

No, we are not supporting him but he is getting some help.

[Yamin151]

Right, ok, in danger of hijacking another thread by our arguing. We feel very differently. A hard degree no barrier to a job in my opinion. The funds to help out create that barrier. But each to his own.
Enough.

OP, lots of good info from people here, the moneysavingexpert site also very good.

[KB]

Where students have 25 hours contact time they will be working much more than that - for every hour of contact time mine were expected to do an hour private study plus tutorial asdignments and ongoing projects. For many science students it is actually not that easy to fit in paid work during term time. Of course that doesn't mean they can't do so in vacations.

Lenders use an affordability calculator which is based on outgoings, including repayment of other debts (& apparently take-aways ) No one is going to make promises about lending in x years but it would be very unlikely for the capital amount of student debt to impact on mortgage lending. The level of repayments at the time will have a negative impact though so no question they will find it harder but if their salary is higher as a result of having a degree then it might balance out.

Its fair to say that each family is different - different financial circumstances for parents and students- so the abilty to help and the best way to help is going to be different. The biggest problem in figuring out what's best in each case is the unknown variables - the rate to be charged on loans , salary of the graduate, changes on fee levels( post election) .... and for those like the OP who is planning 7+ years ahead, who knows!!


To come back to the original question - there is general agreement that higher education is a big investment for the student. If you believe that a state GS can provide a good education for your DD then there seems little question that being able to save the school fees towards higher education ( in whatever way you decide to use it) would be a big benefit to her.
The costs to the student of their higher education have changed significantly and several times over the last 7 years so even an indication of costs today isn't necessarily a very good guide for the future.

Posts crossed - apologies for any duplications

[Guest55]

A good summary, KB - some degrees do not allow for term-time jobs.

We are all playing probablity 'games' and no-one really knows what the future will bring.

[moved]

Students at Oxbridge are not allowed to work during term time.

[loobylou]

Students at Oxbridge are not allowed to work during term time.

Is that really true? They all seem to be working very hard trying to sell punting trips to people who don't want to go on them! (And taking Japanese tourists on said punting trips).
On a serious point our children have been told for years that they will not be funded through uni (we will contribute to living expenses) but that we will attempt to help them buy a property because we see that as the thing that's likely to be most difficult. .. But it is all a guessing game isn't it? My 10 year old is intending to go to uni in Europe since he discovered the costs there and I have been very encouraging (whilst of course accepting that he is only 10 and quite likely to change his mind! )

[Guest55]

It is ironic that someone sending a child to a Private school thinks getting support at uni is a 'no, no'; families can choose to spend their money as they wish to.