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Myth-Busting Mondays: How much debt does your average student graduate with?

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Original post by Aph
You can???? I didn't think you could.

The issue is, yes it sounds like a massive number but it isn't debt in the traditional sense. It doesn't go onto your credit score. It will never affect your likelihood of getting a loan or morgage, you don't have to pay it off unless you earn masses of money and after 30 years it will be wiped.
The only time it would cause you trouble is if you went to go and live in a foreign country and didn't arrange to pay it back with SFE. if you did that you could be arrested upon entering the UK and face prison time.



Yeah you can! Thank the lorddd. The thing about it is though, my parents keep on saying, "Oh with your subject at uni you can't pay the debt off etc you might as well commute to uni from home to save money." Which I don't want at all.

Considering I can easily pay my fees monthly and juggle other stuff, its the land of milk and honey for me.
Original post by MrsSheldonCooper
I beg to differ. I know its anecdotal evidence but it kind of backs up my reasoning as to why university here isn't great value for money imo anyway.

My cousin went to Oxford to do Languages a few years ago and he did the same course as my sister, who graduated this year. She picked a few modules that he had also picked when he was at uni and the work/tasks set were literally the same. The main difference was my cousin went to uni for £3000 a year and my sister paid £6 grand more.

I'm looking at an open day for unis abroad so depends really on if I like it or not.


Sure but does that translate as you're getting 3 grands worth of education for 9 grand or that 9 grand is still a good price for the education given? Also many universities have seen a rise in quality since the fees increased while some top universities stagnated as they saw no reason to increase quality.

Also for something like languages the modules and topics aren't going to change that much because the subject itself doesn't change. If we were talking something like Social Sciences, Sciences or Engineering, areas which constantly change, then it would be more noteworthy.
Reply 42
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Aph
22
Original post by MrsSheldonCooper
Yeah you can! Thank the lorddd. The thing about it is though, my parents keep on saying, "Oh with your subject at uni you can't pay the debt off etc you might as well commute to uni from home to save money." Which I don't want at all.

Considering I can easily pay my fees monthly and juggle other stuff, its the land of milk and honey for me.

You honestly don't need to pay of the debts. I feel like a lot of people have that misconception. And actually if they don't think you can pay it off anyway and it will be written off you should tell them that it won't really save you money because you loose money from SFE if you live at home.

However it really seems like you have it all figured out so I wish you the very best of luck.
Original post by Helloworld_95
Sure but does that translate as you're getting 3 grands worth of education for 9 grand or that 9 grand is still a good price for the education given? Also many universities have seen a rise in quality since the fees increased while some top universities stagnated as they saw no reason to increase quality.

Also for something like languages the modules and topics aren't going to change that much because the subject itself doesn't change. If we were talking something like Social Sciences, Sciences or Engineering, areas which constantly change, then it would be more noteworthy.


Considering I'm planning to do an Arts subject, I don't think paying 9k would be good value for money considering everything would've been the same a few years back tbh.
Original post by MrsSheldonCooper
Considering I'm planning to do an Arts subject, I don't think paying 9k would be good value for money considering everything would've been the same a few years back tbh.


That's not really the logic you should be using, it's like someone's asking you is a pound worth more than a euro and you answering "well it was worth more about a month ago so no, it's not worth more".

Also TIL about the Dutch government offering loans to non-Dutch residents, although the conditions are a bit odd, if you only take the tuition loan you have to pay it back in 15 years but if you take living costs as well you don't and you do it over 35, and to be eligible for living costs you need to work 56 hours per month in the Netherlands for 3 months before applying. Nice repayment situation for studiefinanciering though, 4% above Dutch minimum wage.
Original post by Plagioclase
I'll have about £51,000 debt when I finish, not including interest.


:frown:

I'll have £45,600 as a maximum, hopefully if I get good grades this year I will have less . . .

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Original post by Helloworld_95
That's not really the logic you should be using, it's like someone's asking you is a pound worth more than a euro and you answering "well it was worth more about a month ago so no, it's not worth more".

Also TIL about the Dutch government offering loans to non-Dutch residents, although the conditions are a bit odd, if you only take the tuition loan you have to pay it back in 15 years but if you take living costs as well you don't and you do it over 35, and to be eligible for living costs you need to work 56 hours per month in the Netherlands for 3 months before applying. Nice repayment situation for studiefinanciering though, 4% above Dutch minimum wage.



Yeah I get you. That's the thing though; uni here or abroad.. Bugs me to this day.
Reply 47
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Trill
14
Think this is a tough one to answer, as for example I was in the last batch the for £3000 uni fees and now I am also doing my masters. Does the poll account for different factors too?
Original post by MrsSheldonCooper
You can get a loan from the Dutch government that cover your uni costs and you pay monthly. And in my case, I don't mind about that because I have money saved and am planning to work for another year.

I wouldn't mind going to uni here but coming out with a tonne of debt doesn't sound nice to me.


Oh you're considering the Netherlands? Nice. What do you want to study?

Original post by Aph
The issue you will have is you can't get student loans when you go abroad so have to self fund everything. Also student loans aren't really loans but a graduate tax.


Uni is free in some European countries so you don't need a loan, all you have to worry about is living costs. The cost of living in Germany, especially cities in the East, is so cheap compared to the UK. You could rent a whole flat in Berlin for a couple of hundred euros a month. If they had any degrees taught in English which interested me, I'd be over there in a shot.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by 1 8 13 20 42
I think I will be around £64,000 in debt. My family is poor so I am getting pretty much max maintenance loan I believe, and on a 4 year course. So I can't see how someone could have much more unless they borrowed in other ways


I am furious for today's students. How I complained about my £3500 tuition fee when the generation before got it free now I feel lucky to have had that. And now they've scrapped the maintenance grant for poor students as well so they will leave poorer than rich students as if their families weren't poor enough already. Why aren't you guys more angry about this? :angry:
Original post by Snufkin
Oh you're considering the Netherlands? Nice. What do you want to study?

.


Yeah I am! I'm thinking either English or European studies :smile:

Original post by 99_Problems
I am furious for today's students. How I complained about my £3500 tuition fee when the generation before got it free now I feel lucky to have had that. And now they've scrapped the maintenance grant for poor students as well so they will leave poorer than rich students as if their families weren't poor enough already. Why aren't you guys more angry about this? :angry:


I'm surprised there wasn't an assassination attempt on the whole cabinet tbh.
Original post by MrsSheldonCooper
Yeah I am! I'm thinking either English or European studies :smile:


Oh loads of options for those subjects! Why not Germany??? :fuhrer:
Original post by Snufkin
Oh loads of options for those subjects! Why not Germany??? :fuhrer:


I prefer the look of Dutch unis :redface:
Original post by MrsSheldonCooper
I prefer the look of Dutch unis :redface:


Germany (and Denmark and Sweden for that matter) are free though! Dutch unis are cheaper than the UK but still overpriced IMO!
Reply 54
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Original post by Snufkin
Germany (and Denmark and Sweden for that matter) are free though! Dutch unis are cheaper than the UK but still overpriced IMO!

Cost of living in sweeden is high though. Plus with brexit looming if article 50 has been triggered it might not be free next year.
Original post by Aph
Cost of living in sweeden is high though. Plus with brexit looming if article 50 has been triggered it might not be free next year.


Accommodation is much cheaper there so the overall cost of living is still a bit lower there than here. Uni will still be free even after article 50 has been triggered, it will stay free right up until we actually leave the EU (and that probably won't happen until 2020).
Reply 56
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Aph
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Original post by Snufkin
Accommodation is much cheaper there so the overall cost of living is still a bit lower there than here. Uni will still be free even after article 50 has been triggered, it will stay free right up until we actually leave the EU (and that probably won't happen until 2020).

I've been told it's much higher and you are limited in terms of work you can do...
Also I wouldn't be so sure. I've had plenty of uk unis sending me e-mails saying that if I'm an international student brexit won't affect me this year but as of next year they believe that they will be charging the higher rate.
Original post by Aph
I've been told it's much higher and you are limited in terms of work you can do...
Also I wouldn't be so sure. I've had plenty of uk unis sending me e-mails saying that if I'm an international student brexit won't affect me this year but as of next year they believe that they will be charging the higher rate.


Whoever told you that is wrong. We will remain in the EU for 2 years minimum after we trigger article 50, so fees will not change next year. I'm an Irish citizen so it will still be free for me whatever happens.
Reply 58
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Original post by Snufkin
Whoever told you that is wrong. We will remain in the EU for 2 years minimum after we trigger article 50, so fees will not change next year. I'm an Irish citizen so it will still be free for me whatever happens.

It was in a newspaper article about Brits moving to the continent for uni.

That's what I thought... Unless they meant to say that this year will be garunteed at UK Domecile rates for the entire course but next year they will start charging after we left the EU.
Original post by Snufkin
Germany (and Denmark and Sweden for that matter) are free though! Dutch unis are cheaper than the UK but still overpriced IMO!


No I prefer the Netherlands tbh. Much closer to London so I could just visit my mates and my sister. :smile:

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