The debt from a 4 year degree worth it?

mehhh.....hi.

I've firmed my place at Keele, which means I will be doing a 4 year degree with one year on placement. Now my parents think I will get paid to do this but I don't think I will. If I don't, is the extra debt worth the placement year?

I'm just thinking that it will take me ages to pay it off and what if I decide to do postgrad then I will have a ridiculously amount of debt to pay off, and if I don't get a decent job then it could all be nothing...
anyways basically I'm wondering whether a 4 year degree is a lot worse than 3 years in terms of how quickly it take to repay and how hard to repay.

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Reply 1

jacketpotato

If you don't end up with a decent job you probably won't end up paying the full amount of the debt. You need to do research into how its paid.

Reply 2

Quady

Original post by jacketpotato

If you don't end up with a decent job you probably won't end up paying the full amount of the debt. You need to do research into how its paid.

That doesn't have much to do with deciding whether or not to do a 4 year rather than a 3 year.

Reply 3

Quady

Put yourself down for the 4 year and change during year 2 if you decide not to take a placement.

The placement will make you a lot more employable after the degree though.

And if you really cared about job prospects you wouldn't be looking at Psych at Keele anyway.

Reply 4

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by Quady

Cheers for the in put but I didn't ask for your opinion on my university choice. Anyways yeah I should have thought more before posting anything about a uni that isn't a top 20 uni on the student room... my bad.

Reply 5

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by jacketpotato

If you don't end up with a decent job you probably won't end up paying the full amount of the debt. You need to do research into how its paid.

I have researched and you have to be earning £15,000 a year from what I gather. That isn't a lot of money in my opinion. If I'm going to university I want to earn more than that.

Reply 6

GodspeedGehenna

Can guarantee that your psych placement won't be paid.

Reply 7

eaasy

more worth it than going next year

Reply 8

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by GodspeedGehenna

Can guarantee that your psych placement won't be paid.

Yes I didn't think it would be, as I have seen you say that on some of your posts. I suppose having a bit of experience will increase my employability anyway :smile:

Reply 9

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by eaasy

more worth it than going next year

True true which is why I will definitely go ahead with uni this year if I get the grades.

Reply 10

username694843

Original post by mehhh.....hi.

I have researched and you have to be earning £15,000 a year from what I gather. That isn't a lot of money in my opinion. If I'm going to university I want to earn more than that.

It's going to be £25,000 by the time you're finished.

Reply 11

nuodai

Do you have to pay tuition fees in your placement year? I think some/most unis either charge nothing or charge a lot less for that year; in which case the only extra in tuition fees that you'll have to pay will be the difference between the 2013/2014 fees and the 2014/2015 fees, which probably won't be that much. Of course, funding yourself through an unpaid placement year might be nasty... not sure how that works, but it's unlikely to cost you £9000!

Reply 12

username547863

Check to see if having a placement year and the experience it brings would be benefitical to the career you want to lead. If not then ive heared keele are very lenient and will let you do 3 years.

Reply 13

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by hxecute

It's going to be £25,000 by the time you're finished.

Well the fees aren't £9000 for me... so is that still the case for me? If so then that is a relief.

Reply 14

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by NGC773

Check to see if having a placement year and the experience it brings would be benefitical to the career you want to lead. If not then ive heared keele are very lenient and will let you do 3 years.

Ah okay thats good news if I decide to switch :smile:

Though, having experience is vital for post grad if I wanted to pursue psychology, so it would benefit me a lot yes, which is why I decided on Keele.

Reply 15

username694843

Original post by mehhh.....hi.

Well the fees aren't £9000 for me... so is that still the case for me? If so then that is a relief.

I'm not sure about that actually...

Quote from BBC:

The government will lend students the money for fees, which will be paid back when they graduate and begin working. The fees will not have to be paid up-front.

The threshold at which graduates have to start paying their loans back will rise from £15,000 to £21,000. This will rise annually with inflation.

Each month graduates will pay back 9% of their income above that threshold.

The subsidised interest rate at which the repayments are made - currently 1.5% - will be raised. Under a "progressive tapering" system, the interest rate will rise from 0 for incomes of £21,000, to 3% plus inflation (RPI) for incomes above £41,000.

If the debt is not cleared 30 years after graduation, it will be wiped out.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11483638

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 16

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by hxecute

I'm not sure about that actually...

Quote from BBC:

Here's the link to the article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11483638

Ah okay thanks I'll have a read :smile:

Reply 17

jacketpotato

Original post by Quady

That doesn't have much to do with deciding whether or not to do a 4 year rather than a 3 year.

It does. The Op is concerned about paying student debt from low-paying jobs. If she was in such a job, and paid the full whack of fees, she would probably never pay the whole of the 3 year fees before they are written off and thus the extra debt wouldn't make any difference to her at all.

Original post by mehhh.....hi.

I have researched and you have to be earning £15,000 a year from what I gather. That isn't a lot of money in my opinion. If I'm going to university I want to earn more than that.

Will be £21,000 shortly. It isn't a case of you being on the hook as soon as you go above the threshold: you repay 9% of what you earn above the threshold. If you earn 25k, you'll repay £360 a year. If you earn 40k, you repay £1710 a year. These rates don't change whether you do a 3 or 4 year course, though obviously it will take longer to pay off a 4-year debt. It gets written off after 25 years.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 18

Quady

Original post by jacketpotato

So if thats the worry then what difference does it make if its a 3 or a 4 year?

Either way its written off with the same amount paid back.

So its irrelavent.

Reply 19

Quady