Uni Fees

Hi!

Ed Miliband announced his plans this week to cut tuition fees to £6000 a year, and in light of this, we thought we'd discuss the costs of uni from the eyes of students.

Although the government do provide a maintenance loan (and sometimes a grant if you qualify), this is means tested and can mean that you will receive a lot less than your friends simply because your household income is greater. In theory, this should work, as higher income families should have more expendable money in order to help support their kids through uni. However, with the cost of virtually EVERYTHING going up, it doesn't work out that way.

One of the major things we had to consider before applying to uni was the cost of accommodation. University halls are a popular choice for freshers because you're surrounded by people who are in your year and potentially on your course. Halls are great (we both spent our freshers year in halls) but they can be very expensive. Our halls are privately owned by a separate company which unfortunately bumps up the price. Some of the halls at uni can be very reasonably priced but be prepared to pay a lot if you want more modern facilities.

Although I'd love it if tuition costs were cut, I think the government need to seriously consider other costs first, like altering the maintenance loan and lowering uni accommodation. Currently, I will leave university in 2018 with £36,000 worth of debt in tuition fees alone. It sounds terrifying when I say it like that but I don't actually have to start paying it back until I earn over £21,000 a year. The bad news is, there's no guarantee I'll get a job straight out of uni, and even if I do, I won't be earning anywhere near that! This is good news for me (yay) but not so good news for the government. If my loans aren't paid back then the government loses out. I'll have a degree but with unemployment figures for young people being so high, it will take a while before I earn enough to pay it back.

Lets hope they figure something out soon, so more people can afford to get degrees and their dream jobs!

E&S