[S23a]

I understanding that it's common for students to get the maximum tuition loan, maintenance loan as well as the grant (if possible) - but does anybody use their grant to pay towards their actual tuition fee?

For example, i was lucky enough to get the maximum maintenance grant (~£2,900) this year and used that to pay my university fee. I paid the remaining £300 using money from a previous part-time job and thus, didn't have to take out a tuition fee loan at all.

This means less debt and interest in the future, as i'm likely to pay off the full amount within the 30-year time-frame.

[Agenda Suicide]

I'm really not that bothered about it to be honest.

If my degree is good enough to help me get a 21.5k a year job then I don't care if I have to pay it off then. If not I'm not going to worry about paying something off that has no real effect on me.

[GdotL]

Well you obviously have very cheap rent/outgoings to afford that.

[CurlyBen]

I can't help but feel that if you don't need the grant (and if you can use it to pay off your tuition you clearly don't) then you shouldn't be getting it. Mind you, I've never thought parents' income was a good way of deciding support entitlements anyway.

[james22]

(Original post by CurlyBen)
I can't help but feel that if you don't need the grant (and if you can use it to pay off your tuition you clearly don't) then you shouldn't be getting it. Mind you, I've never thought parents' income was a good way of deciding support entitlements anyway.

No one would say no to 2.9k a year free though.

[The Stig]

That is a rather bizzare thing to do. The tuition fee loan is possibly the best loan you will ever get, you pay 0% interest for the time you are in university. Even if you want to pay it off immediately, I would recommend still taking out a tuition fee loan, bank all the funds you were going to use to pay it off (put the money in ISA's, savings accounts etc). Then at the end of the three years when you finish your degree you can take all the money out and repay your tuition fee loan and you'll have also made some money for yourself through interest.

What you're doing now has absolutely no upside.

[CurlyBen]

(Original post by james22)
No one would say no to 2.9k a year free though.

Yeah, I realise that, but the point of the maintenance grant is to enable people to go to university when they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to, not to pay for tuition.

[S23a]

(Original post by The Stig)
That is a rather bizzare thing to do. The tuition fee loan is possibly the best loan you will ever get, you pay 0% interest for the time you are in university. Even if you want to pay it off immediately, I would recommend still taking out a tuition fee loan, bank all the funds you were going to use to pay it off (put the money in ISA's, savings accounts etc). Then at the end of the three years when you finish your degree you can take all the money out and repay your tuition fee loan and you'll have also made some money for yourself through interest.

What you're doing now has absolutely no upside.

The majority of students that will end up taking maximum loans and grants and justify it by saying it's the best loan that they will get and they will be able to fund their house, etc, will most likely end up spending a big portion of it on something they would not normally have bought simply because they have the money available. It's simply a good way to justify taking out the full amount.

(Original post by CurlyBen)
I can't help but feel that if you don't need the grant (and if you can use it to pay off your tuition you clearly don't) then you shouldn't be getting it. Mind you, I've never thought parents' income was a good way of deciding support entitlements anyway.

I'm lucky to be getting the grant and understand your point of view, but if i'm entitled to receive the funding I don't see why I wouldn't apply for it.

Conversely, I've been employed in part-time work for five years and have more than that saved up through hard work, so you could argue that i'm spending my own savings to pay the tuition fee and then keeping the grant in my account - it's essentially the same thing.

[The Stig]

(Original post by S23a)
The majority of students that will end up taking maximum loans and grants and justify it by saying it's the best loan that they will get and they will be able to fund their house, etc, will most likely end up spending a big portion of it on something they would not normally have bought simply because they have the money available. It's simply a good way to justify taking out the full amount.

Did you even road my post, other than the first sentence?

My suggestion is essentially a no-brainer. You make money for yourself through interest and dividends and you pay off your tuition fee as well. All you have to do is put the money in good ISA's and savings accounts. Then at the end of your undergraduate degree you simply take all the money out and pay it back, leaving yourself with what is essentially 'free money'.

[CurlyBen]

(Original post by S23a)
I'm lucky to be getting the grant and understand your point of view, but if i'm entitled to receive the funding I don't see why I wouldn't apply for it.

Conversely, I've been employed in part-time work for five years and have more than that saved up through hard work, so you could argue that i'm spending my own savings to pay the tuition fee and then keeping the grant in my account - it's essentially the same thing.

I wasn't trying to suggest that you shouldn't have applied for the grant, but I think it does highlight a flaw in the way eligibility for support is assessed. My personal view is that support at university should either be universal or based on the student's finances, and not those of their parents, although I realise with the current drive to send so many people to university that would probably be financially unviable. It just doesn't seem particularly right, given the structure of the loans system, that those from a less well off background should pay less than others. (To clarify, I'm not suggesting additional support shouldn't be available for those from less well off backgrounds, but the repayment of the loan is entirely dependant on future earnings, not parents' background, and so everyone should have the same debt).

[Supportive mum]

(Original post by CurlyBen)
I wasn't trying to suggest that you shouldn't have applied for the grant, but I think it does highlight a flaw in the way eligibility for support is assessed. My personal view is that support at university should either be universal or based on the student's finances, and not those of their parents, although I realise with the current drive to send so many people to university that would probably be financially unviable. It just doesn't seem particularly right, given the structure of the loans system, that those from a less well off background should pay less than others. (To clarify, I'm not suggesting additional support shouldn't be available for those from less well off backgrounds, but the repayment of the loan is entirely dependant on future earnings, not parents' background, and so everyone should have the same debt).

Agreed

[canŵio]

well anyone who's going this year or in the future won't be able to do what you're doing... £9000 would be a little bit harder to 'have spare'.

[rifle.eyes]

(Original post by S23a)
I understanding that it's common for students to get the maximum tuition loan, maintenance loan as well as the grant (if possible) - but does anybody use their grant to pay towards their actual tuition fee?

For example, i was lucky enough to get the maximum maintenance grant (~£2,900) this year and used that to pay my university fee. I paid the remaining £300 using money from a previous part-time job and thus, didn't have to take out a tuition fee loan at all.

This means less debt and interest in the future, as i'm likely to pay off the full amount within the 30-year time-frame.

Surely you're only 300 less off in debt?

[M'Ling]

If you insist on not spending the grant for your own needs, why not give it to one who receives no grant? Say what you want about parents' income, but I guarantee you they will need it far more.

Middle-classes suffer terribly under the maintenance grant system; they receive nothing (or very little) and so live in genuine fear of running out of money as their parents can't afford to help out, whereas people from poorer backgrounds spend the money irrationally on clothes or other non-essential purchases which, to me, rather slaps the face of those who get nothing, budget well, and yet still are left in the red.

[Supportive mum]

(Original post by rifle.eyes)
Surely you're only 300 less off in debt?

Depending where he's studying, he's probably got about £3,300 less debt than he would have had. (Grants do not have to be repaid).

[S23a]

(Original post by The Stig)


Did you even road my post, other than the first sentence?

My suggestion is essentially a no-brainer. You make money for yourself through interest and dividends and you pay off your tuition fee as well. All you have to do is put the money in good ISA's and savings accounts. Then at the end of your undergraduate degree you simply take all the money out and pay it back, leaving yourself with what is essentially 'free money'.

I didn't deny that you could do it - I simply stated that many people with the same intention will simply end up spending it all. Of course, you'll be better inclined not do so.

(Original post by CurlyBen)
I wasn't trying to suggest that you shouldn't have applied for the grant, but I think it does highlight a flaw in the way eligibility for support is assessed. My personal view is that support at university should either be universal or based on the student's finances, and not those of their parents, although I realise with the current drive to send so many people to university that would probably be financially unviable. It just doesn't seem particularly right, given the structure of the loans system, that those from a less well off background should pay less than others. (To clarify, I'm not suggesting additional support shouldn't be available for those from less well off backgrounds, but the repayment of the loan is entirely dependant on future earnings, not parents' background, and so everyone should have the same debt).

I also agree, but this is a completely different topic - akin to the great EMA debate.

(Original post by canŵio)
well anyone who's going this year or in the future won't be able to do what you're doing... £9000 would be a little bit harder to 'have spare'.

Any current students will only pay the fees they originally began with.

(Original post by rifle.eyes)
Surely you're only 300 less off in debt?

As mentioned above, the grant isn't repayable.

(Original post by M'Ling)
If you insist on not spending the grant for your own needs, why not give it to one who receives no grant? Say what you want about parents' income, but I guarantee you they will need it far more.

Middle-classes suffer terribly under the maintenance grant system; they receive nothing (or very little) and so live in genuine fear of running out of money as their parents can't afford to help out, whereas people from poorer backgrounds spend the money irrationally on clothes or other non-essential purchases which, to me, rather slaps the face of those who get nothing, budget well, and yet still are left in the red.

I am middle-class, but your post was rather funnily bitter against students from poorer backgrounds.

[canŵio]

(Original post by S23a)
Any current students will only pay the fees they originally began with.

...which is why i said any students going this year or in the future...?

[M'Ling]

(Original post by S23a)
I am middle-class, but your post was rather funnily bitter against students from poorer backgrounds.

Getting the full maintenance grant would suggest otherwise. I have absolutely no problem with people from poorer backgrounds going to Uni, being one myself, rather I have a problem with people like you who, it seems, waste money which would benefit so many students.

In other words, your question suggests a naivety on the part of one who doesn't understand that you shouldn't waste valuable grant money on a tuition fee loan, a loan which means essentially nothing in terms of debt.

[S23a]

(Original post by M'Ling)
Getting the full maintenance grant would suggest otherwise.

In other words, your question suggests a naivety on the part of one who doesn't understand that you shouldn't waste valuable grant money on a tuition fee loan, a loan which means essentially nothing in terms of debt.

If I hadn't chosen to use this tax year to assess my application, I would not have received the grant.

But you can argue both ways - the student loan system isn't there to be to used to funnel interest into your pocket. It's supposed to be used to pay for essential living costs, such as rent, as part of your maintenance loan. Quite rightly, the maintenance grant is supposed to be used for payment towards things like books, travel costs, food and anything that your maintenance loan cannot cover.

What you're essentially saying is that I am not exploiting the student loan system correctly and to my advantage. If you take a student loan out with the purposes of storing it all just to gain interest, then you're essentially taking money from interest that the government would have earned and been able to use towards our country's debt and economy.

I can see the media outrage now

[S23a]

(Original post by canŵio)
...which is why i said any students going this year or in the future...?

So it was pretty much irrelevant to this thread?