Ousetunes Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 That's a lot of hours at McDonalds to pay that back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxon51 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 ................................................... Anyway, the loan repayment schemes are fair and I am doing OK in my second year. As it is based on a % of salary and you don't pay it back if you can't afford to, it's a pretty damn good interest free loan, to be fair. Good post. It's amazing how many people are too thick to grasp this bit, isn't it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansheff Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Second year student in £24k of debt? Definitely a wind-up! Tuition fees £3k accommodation fees say £4k living expenses £2-3k so where has £14k come from?! Anyway, the loan repayment schemes are fair and I am doing OK in my second year. As it is based on a % of salary and you don't pay it back if you can't afford to, it's a pretty damn good interest free loan, to be fair. Err it is not interest free as far as I know, while you are not paying then the interest will be adding up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hennypenny Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Second year student in £24k of debt? Definitely a wind-up! Tuition fees £3k accommodation fees say £4k living expenses £2-3k so where has £14k come from?! Anyway, the loan repayment schemes are fair and I am doing OK in my second year. As it is based on a % of salary and you don't pay it back if you can't afford to, it's a pretty damn good interest free loan, to be fair. The problem is not so much the students now, who do get loans at a fair rate, but those from 2012 who will be paying up to 3 x the fees, and the loans are going to be done at commercial interest rates instead of being linked to inflation, so in effect they will be taking out mortgages to get through university. My son went to university and managed to come out with only £10,000 debt, which he has just started paying off now he has his first job as a post doctoral research associate, but I don't think my daughter will be able to go as it will be beyond our means by the time she is old enough. Moneysavingsexpert has blogged on the new student loans, it is sobering reading http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2010/11/04/stopping-graduates-repaying-student-loans-early-would-be-a-terrible-mistake/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECCOnoob Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Well then your daughter will have to get a job whilst at uni or save up some money to help pay off a chunk of the loan upon completion. Loans dont have to be paid back until they are earning a good salary which is a lot better than anything a bank or alternative finance company would offer them. Or learn through an alternative route like I did. I got my law degree through working full time and doing distance learning. I cost me nearly 10k by the time I had finished it but I had no loan, handout or support grant. I just had to blow a hole in my earnings every month to pay for my yearly fees. I admit it was a tough time but now I am earning a good wage without any debt. Im sick of people who think everyone in the country automatically should go to university and get into debt...... WRONG! There are many other ways to get a degree and people need to start using them more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espadrille Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Well then your daughter will have to get a job whilst at uni or save up some money to help pay off a chunk of the loan upon completion. Loans dont have to be paid back until they are earning a good salary which is a lot better than anything a bank or alternative finance company would offer them. Or learn through an alternative route like I did. I got my law degree through working full time and doing distance learning. I cost me nearly 10k by the time I had finished it but I had no loan, handout or support grant. I just had to blow a hole in my earnings every month to pay for my yearly fees. I admit it was a tough time but now I am earning a good wage without any debt. Im sick of people who think everyone in the country automatically should go to university and get into debt...... WRONG! There are many other ways to get a degree and people need to start using them more. and this is what will eventually happen. I must say that going to University isnt always the passport to success that many people think it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stourboy Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 The problem is not so much the students now, who do get loans at a fair rate, but those from 2012 who will be paying up to 3 x the fees, and the loans are going to be done at commercial interest rates instead of being linked to inflation, so in effect they will be taking out mortgages to get through university. My son went to university and managed to come out with only £10,000 debt, which he has just started paying off now he has his first job as a post doctoral research associate, but I don't think my daughter will be able to go as it will be beyond our means by the time she is old enough. Moneysavingsexpert has blogged on the new student loans, it is sobering reading Why would she not be able to afford to go? Repayments per month will be less than what I will pay; and if she earns <£21,000 she doesn't pay a thing. The loan is completely written off after a certain period of time. I don't really understand why she would feel, or you would feel, that she couldn't go. Household income does not matter a jot; repayments are the same for everyone. In fact maintenance loans are increasing so she will be entitled to more for her living costs than under the current system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sierra Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 When leaving my friends tonight after a night out, walking home in the rain, a young man wanted to join me under my umbrella. I said, "OK", and we were talking, and he told me that he was a second year degree student studying quantity surveying (or something) and he said he was 22, and in £24,000 of debt. I feel sad for him. 22, and £24,000 in debt. That isn't right, surely. No, it's not right. But anything worth having is worth working for isn't it? If they were giving out college degrees for free, they'd be worthless. OTOH, I don't entirely buy into the whole, "you get what you pay for" argument, either. Things are WAY more expensive than they need to be.There has to be a happy medium. If the UK is anything like the US, funds for students are drying up like snowflakes on a hot griddle. Our daughter just graduated college and has some student debt, but it's not as bad as it could be because she got scholarships and grants and we helped her. As it is now, full ride scholarships are reserved almost entirely for the truly needy, extraordinary athletes or scholars. She's now working, and while it's not her dream job, she's darn sight better off than if she hadn't completed college. What I find mildly disturbing is the character assasination going on because the poor kid forgot his umbrella?!!! Maybe his umbrella was stolen? Ok, maybe he got drunk and lost it. I don't know. The point is, how many of us managed our money perfectly at that age? I suppose I wasn't too bad, but I didn't do as well as I could have, that's fer suuure. My money got blown on clothes, makeup, a way nicer car than I needed, etc. What every young(ish) person needs is a serious sit down with someone who can help them make the right decisions about their future. Maybe he comes from a family where no one knows how to handle money and that sort of thing wasn't stressed? I am continually surprised at the people (my age) who don't bother to shop around, who buy things they don't need, and who never investigate to see if they can get something cheaper. Just yesterday, I saw my neighbor putting up solar screens on his windows. (Tis that time of year) I asked him if he was getting the rebate from the electric company. He looked dumbfounded and said he's never heard of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fareast Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 How can I help a poor student ? Maybe I should go down town [ especially Fri. or Sat. ] and try to find one or two amongst the heaving masses in the bars and pubs ? Or maybe I could buy some of their music systems from them so that they could buy more books ? I used to know a lot of students, just a few years ago-----but this was in China. They lived in dorms of 4, 6, 8 or 12 students, usually [ single-sex, needless to say ]. They had no grants whatsoever, even in the form of loans. There were a few scholarships but their higher education was usually paid for by a mixture of part-time jobs and parental sacrifice. They generally seemed very happy. They could go to a campus cinema at night or study in the library or if the weather was nice they 'd be moving hither and thither, just socialising. They could book time to play football, basketball or volley-ball. They played table-tennis, went window shopping or cooked meals together. The university had canteens but many local ' caffs ' were cheap enough for them to eat out. They could cook simple meals in their dorms. There were the usual romances, virtually no public drunkenness whatsoever, nor thuggish behaviour. The most ' criminal ' behaviour centred around attempted or actual cheating in exams. Perhaps our U.K. students could make an appeal to their Chinese counterparts ? I 'm sure they 'd be willing to go without their food or books if it meant their British brethren could have another hour in the pub or buy a better i-pod ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphoria Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 It's crap.......but it's also his choice. My daughter will be 30 this week and allmost at the end of her student debt. I can't remember how much her debt was but she definately benefited from her years at Uni. She has a crack job now which is reaping the rewards of her studying and her student debt. The sad thing is that all those incurring the student debts now might not have a job to go to when they leave uni. Sad indeed, if uni's are offering courses for jobs that don't exist, and loans are offered to them whilst they are studying them. Glad your daughter is doing well, good luck to her...she sounds like a hard-working girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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