HJL_Shef Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 "And where did the minimum amount of £30k come from. At £6k per year thats £18k" As a member of the Russell Group, the University of Sheffield will undoubtedly be charging close to maximum. At 6,000 per year per student, they would make a loss. 9,000 x 3 (+ interest charged on first year loan for 3 years, second year loan for 2 years and third year loan for 1 year) = just under £30,000 upon graduation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espadrille Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 Plus just over £4,000 per annum living costs loan. Doesnt anyone save up for this kind of thing these days? I have been saving a couple of years now so that my daughter can go to university.She is not yet 15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 Doesnt anyone save up for this kind of thing these days? I have been saving a couple of years now so that my daughter can go to university.She is not yet 15. This seems to have happened very quickly so most people haven't had much chance to save. To cover these costs you need to start saving at birth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey19 Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 If you can't afford something you have to go without was a saying my generation was brought up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiglet Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 Doesnt anyone save up for this kind of thing these days? I have been saving a couple of years now so that my daughter can go to university.She is not yet 15. A student will find it difficult to live on £4,000 a year. In many places that won't even cover the annual rent in halls of residence. They will still require further financial assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HJL_Shef Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 Doesnt anyone save up for this kind of thing these days? I have been saving a couple of years now so that my daughter can go to university.She is not yet 15. My parents saved for my future and I also saved for my future as a teenager. However, to go to University unsupported now, you could well need £45,000. Then, there's the other things that people like to save for, such as a house (£20,000) and a car + insurance e.t.c. (£2,000 plus). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosxuk Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 but does it actually cost £6k to educate an average student at degree level. The figure's I've heard are that most courses cost around £7k, the Government are removing all grants from non STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths I believe) courses, so most courses will be left with a shortfall of £1k/year/student based on the £6k soft-cap. The Universtities are supposed to fund this shortfall through "efficiencies". Im guessing that the government have done the sums and worked out that if a higher earner pays off all their loan with interest it will cover a proportion of the loan of someone on the dole. They are not expecting low earners to pay it back but Im sure they have already taken this into account. Im not claiming to know the answer but I am assuming they have thought about this. The problem is though that the Government doesn't get to keep any of the money that isn't spent. If a course only costs a University £1k/year, but they set their charge at £6k/year, the University keeps the additional £5k/year, not the Government. If the students on that £1k/year course don't earn enough over the following 35 years to pay it back in full, the Government loses what money isn't paid, but the University gets to keep the extra £5k. As I said its more complicated than calculating the minimum a student will pay now compared to previously. It doesn't matter if a large proportion don't pay it off effectively they have increased the cap for the higher earners who will now be paying more than they did previously. But, they'll also be borrowing a lot more than before - and with it being a low interest rate on all loans, the Government is basically losing money on each loan (even when I went to Uni before we had top up fees, we were recommended to take out the full loan regardless of whether you needed it, and even sticking it in a normal bank account (back then) would earn you more interest than you were being charged). And where did the minimum amount of £30k come from. At £6k per year thats £18k (and thats the maximum they will be allowed to charge except in extreme circumstances) by the end of their studies plus interest. I'm pretty sure the "extreme circumstances" will become normal circumstances in a couple of years. Also, many courses are more than 3 years (virtually all Hallam Uni degrees are sandwich degrees, with a year in industry (where the student can find a suitable position) between teaching years 2 and 3, and charged for an extra half year of tuition). Then there is the loan to cover living costs (which most students now spend immediately on rent). I graduated in 2005 with £12k of debt from living cost loans alone. Adding on your £18k (plus my sandwich year) would give me a debt of £33k, and that's the minimum for someone doing my course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 They can choose to pay it off faster than the minimum rate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HJL_Shef Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 A student will find it difficult to live on £4,000 a year Agreed. My sister's halls cost her £4,800 for the thirty-odd weeks, self-catered. Depends on the city and uni of course, but I should imagine in Sheffield, you'd be talking £6,000 minimum per year for a student to live comfortably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiglet Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 They can choose to pay it off faster than the minimum rate... They can, but who will, knowing that they are unlikely to ever pay it all off and it will be written off after 30 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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