How much is/do you reckon your total student debt will be?

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So i bit the bullet and found out what I owe today and mine is a grand total of £15,020.35 (i m very fortunate to have come from wales and had a maintenance grant for the 2 years from sfw).

Crippling

Reply 61

Tanqueray91

Luckily I've got a scholarship, so tuition fee debt will be mega reduced :biggrin:

Reply 62

prospectivemed56

Original post by KingYusHalo

I guess my dad is willing to put up 100,000 for my education. That means I'll only have a 20000 deficit in the UK which i guess can easily paid off by part time jobs and once you graduate. For the US, I'll still have a 110,000 debt. But then again, salaries in US are much higher so i guess i can pay that off in a relatively short amount of time

Just have a long and careful think about what your different options will be if things don't turn out the way you've planned. Say you/your girlfriend get pregnant, or you have a motorbike accident and end up with brain damage, or you develop debilitating anxiety and depression, or you get arrested/convicted for a minor crime which affects your legal ability to work ... my understanding is that, in the UK, you won't be harassed for money if your circumstances change and your income drops below £20,000 a year. However, in the US, you might find the government/commercial loan organisations to be a bit less forgiving. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Reply 63

claireestelle

Original post by mobbsy91

Luckily I've got a scholarship, so tuition fee debt will be mega reduced :biggrin:

that's pretty lucky :smile:

Reply 64

Tanqueray91

Original post by claireestelle

that's pretty lucky :smile:

I think it is :biggrin:

Reply 65

Novascope

Too ****ing much :smile:

Reply 66

Quilverine

£93,000

Over 35k from undergrad & I'm about to start grad entry medicine. I think the interest will take it over 100k by the time my repayments are high enough to start making a dent in it.

Reply 67

nexttime

Original post by Quilverine

£93,000

Over 35k from undergrad & I'm about to start grad entry medicine. I think the interest will take it over 100k by the time my repayments are high enough to start making a dent in it.

Why so high? Getting extra means-tested loans? If so you'll probably end up with a bunch of grants as well which will make the numbers look a little less scary.

If you did have that amount of debt you wouldn't start repaying more than the annual interest until you're earning more than £65,000 or so... so not until you're a consultant!

Reply 68

username613045

Original post by claireestelle

I knew london/vet/med student loans were high but didnt realise they'd be in the 80's.

Were they under the old systems (either lower fees or maintenance grants)? The reason my debt's do is the maintenance loan. More money at uni ( :smile:

), never paying off my debt ( :angry:

)

Reply 69

2567523

okay. what the hell is a student loan/debit? my parents are just going to pay for my uni etc so when would i need a loan??????????:\

Reply 70

claireestelle

Original post by gameofno

okay. what the hell is a student loan/debit? my parents are just going to pay for my uni etc so when would i need a loan??????????:\

If they have over 40k to give you then that's okay :smile:

But most students end up with some sort of debt be it for tution or living costs.

Reply 71

2567523

Original post by claireestelle

If they have over 40k to give you then that's okay :smile:

But most students end up with some sort of debt be it for tution or living costs.

yeah they do have over 40k, but like are these debts bc students take loans from the bank?

Reply 72

claireestelle

Original post by gameofno

yeah they do have over 40k, but like are these debts bc students take loans from the bank?

No, this is what students owe from government loans for the most part, apart from maybe 3k in overdrafts no one could borrow anymore from banks.

Reply 73

2567523

Original post by claireestelle

No, this is what students owe from government loans for the most part, apart from maybe 3k in overdrafts no one could borrow anymore from banks.

i never even knew students took loans from the government but ok ty

Reply 74

Quilverine

Original post by nexttime

Why so high?

Independent mature student with a dependent (single parent). So yes I previously had some grants (now scrapped & replaced with a loan) but I had to take the absolute maximum to cover rent and bills. Not exactly easy to find student budget accommodation that is suitable to live in with a 3 year old! I think I will be getting 9k in maintenance loans and the tuition is 5.5k for 4 years. I will get 85% of my childcare costs back in term time plus housing benefit. It will still be brutally tight compared to how I get by on my current wages which aren't much.

Reply 75

Meekle72

One year at the lower fees plus maintenance loan whilst I was at Leicester, that's around 7k

2 years tuition fee this time around plus maintenance loan for first year to help pay for the 9k I have to pony up for the first year.

All in all about £28k. Not as bad as I'd expected

Reply 76

nexttime

Don't know why the government didn't just go for a 8% grad tax*, would have been a lot simpler, allayed fears by some of being in 'debt', and would've saved so much administrative work in terms of calculating debts, unis offering extra grants, etc.

*Ok, I do know why. Its because Dave's mates' children would have been hit hard by that, which is just unacceptable.

Reply 77

S3058

As an irish student this seems crazy to me. My fees are covered 100% and I recieve a decent maintenance grant that I could survive off.

Living at home I could easily afford to not work and still end up without debt.

Reply 78

username738914

Original post by nexttime

This. Structuring the grad tax into a form of debt is quite silly imo. It's like the government are doling out bonds with the coupons being set at 9% (over £21k), and interest rates being variable (albeit low). A straight tax would have been much easier overall.

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Reply 79

Axion

Original post by Princepieman

Edit :P

I think the debt interest has to be high. Most people will get theirs written off, so at least, for the debt provider, 3%+inflation enables them to recoup some of their losses elsewhere on those who do eventually earn enough to pay it back. After all, if I have 45k of debt, and do go into a high-paying career, I'll probably pay back at least 60k after interest accrues.

I presume the graduate tax would cease once the entire debt is repaid? Otherwise you start to penalise graduates into perpetuity. Any finite system would, naturally, that has logistical issues about trying to tie in a PAYE system to, what is in most books anyway, a funding/loan system. Presumably, such a 'tax' could be 'dodged' by moving overseas in any case - those in high-paying jobs are probably the most capable of moving overseas too!