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Can I afford Cambridge?

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone could sum up the costs of studying maths at Cambridge? I have looked over their website, but want some ''real-world'' experience.

What is it going to cost a year? With student loans, how much can I look to take out and at what rates? Who is offering the best student loan rates at the moment?

Cheers,
Michael

Reply 1

darryl

13

Look on the cambridge website at accomodation costs, that will be your most significant cost during university.

Reply 2

Talya

16

TBH, Cambridge will cost you just the same amount as any other Uni. The accomodation is the same price and so is the food! :smile:

Reply 3

kellywood_5

17

Talya

TBH, Cambridge will cost you just the same amount as any other Uni. The accomodation is the same price and so is the food! :smile:

In fact, doesn't it probably work out less because you stay in college for the full 3 years? Everywhere else, you'd have to go private after the first year, which is surely more expensive?

Reply 4

Talya

16

kellywood_5

In fact, doesn't it probably work out less because you stay in college for the full 3 years? Everywhere else, you'd have to go private after the first year, which is surely more expensive?

Not necessarily. You can easily live in grotty digs for £50 a week. :smile:

Whereas most halls are more than this.

But it's far more convenient to live in halls, for all 3 years.

Reply 5

Liz150888

its cheaper to go to cambridge for a year than to go to edinburgh (in their catered halls). well thats if i discount tuition fees cos i have to pay them (or pay them back) at camb but not at edinburgh. there are lots and lots of bursaries and the such available at cambo too- far more extensive bursary scheme than edinburgh (my insurance) anyway.

Reply 6

toto8462

9

I thought that cambridge accommodation was subsidised.

Reply 7

Mr. Jim

something about £3000odd college fees being paid by your LEA...?

Reply 8

lskdgjsj

10

vector771

What is it going to cost a year? With student loans, how much can I look to take out and at what rates? Who is offering the best student loan rates at the moment?

Cheers,
Michael

It's hard for any of us to answer because the system is changing entirely. Tuition fees can now go up to £3000 a year, which you do not have to pay up front, but can pay entirely through a student loan. Students loans are given out by the student loans company, and the present rate of interest is 3.2%. When you start to earn more than £15,000 a year you'll begin repayments, at nine per cent. of your salary. In addition to the tuiton fee costs, there are the ordinary student loans, which will rise to about £4,405 in Cambridge, depending on your family's income. The whole thing is usually administered through your LEA, rather than through the student loans company directly.

There's a maintenance grant available, which does not have to be repaid. If your household income is less than £17,500, you receive all £2,700; if it's between £17,501 and £37,525 you receive a portion of it; and if it's more than £37,526 you receive nothing. There are also generous bursaries and grants available from your college or the Isaac Newton Trust bursary scheme. It works on the same scale as the maintenance grant; if you get the full maintenance grant, you'll get a bursary of £3,000; if you get a partial maintenance grant, you'll get part of the bursary; and if you get no maintenance grant, you get no bursary. A few of the larger colleges (like John's, Trinity, &c.) may have different systems in place.

For reference, see: http://www.newtontrust.cam.ac.uk/world/bursaries2006/index.html.

and:

http://www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=1647,468488&_dad=portal&_schema=PROTOCOL.

If you're from a low or middle income group, you'll probably be quite well off financially at Cambridge (bearing in mind, however, that Cambridge rents can be very high); if you're from a high income group, it'll probably make relatively little difference.

Reply 9

leannemarie

11

Liz150888

its cheaper to go to cambridge for a year than to go to edinburgh (in their catered halls). well thats if i discount tuition fees cos i have to pay them (or pay them back) at camb but not at edinburgh. there are lots and lots of bursaries and the such available at cambo too- far more extensive bursary scheme than edinburgh (my insurance) anyway.

And I found out I've been offered one by Girton today! (A college bursary that is, to cover college fees). I think Cambridge is one of the cheaper uni to study at due to living in colleges and not needing to pay for travel. I liked Durham for similar reasons!

Reply 10

FadeToBlackout

15

it doesn't matter whether or not you can afford it.

If you can't, you WILL get enough bursaries to cover yourself though teh course. I'm in rathr a sticky financial situation, and it's really helped.

No-one, their aim goes, should be discouraged from applying or have to drop out once they're in through financial pressure. If anything, Cambridge will probably be cheaper financially and better for those short of cash becasue the levels of bursaries is far above most other universities.

Reply 11

Liz150888

leanne did u apply for a college bursary? was tht the thing we got through ages and ages and ages ago called the emily davis (or something...) bursary tht u were meant to apply for like fairly quickly?

Reply 12

crafty bison

14

svidrigailov

It's hard for any of us to answer because the system is changing entirely. Tuition fees can now go up to £3000 a year, which you do not have to pay up front, but can pay entirely through a student loan. Students loans are given out by the student loans company, and the present rate of interest is 3.2%.

It's nice how deep they make you dig to find out precisely what the rate is. All over the place you see "linked to inflation" or whatever, but NOWHERE does the SLC state what definition of inflation they use, and I think it's completely farcical that they're calling it 3.2%. Inflation by most standard measures is well below that figure. They're ripping students off, relying on the ignorance of the majority, and since they essentially have a government-endorsed monopoly this forces me to seriously doubt the morality of whoever is in charge of the SLC.

Reply 13

FadeToBlackout

15

What! Outrageous!

That's actually hugely disturbing. I thought it was linked exactly to inflation, not their made-up high figure. Gosh, I'm now annoyed...

Reply 14

apd35

9

crafty bison

It's nice how deep they make you dig to find out precisely what the rate is. All over the place you see "linked to inflation" or whatever, but NOWHERE does the SLC state what definition of inflation they use, and I think it's completely farcical that they're calling it 3.2%. Inflation by most standard measures is well below that figure. They're ripping students off, relying on the ignorance of the majority, and since they essentially have a government-endorsed monopoly this forces me to seriously doubt the morality of whoever is in charge of the SLC.

It is linked to inflation, not equal to it. IIRC, inflation is 2.2% making student loans 1% above it, which considering your increased earning potential due to having a degree isn't a lot.

Reply 15

-Matt-

A guide to financial support for higher education students in 2006/2007, Student Finance Direct

How much will you have to pay back?
Interest on the amount will be partially paid by the Government so that you only pay interest at a rate linked to inflation. This means the value of the amount you pay back will be broadly the same, in real terms, as the value of the amount you borrowed.

The last part seems misleading if the interest rate is higher than inflation.

Reply 16

FadeToBlackout

15

its the "broadly"... I'm no lawyer, but it seems they're covering their backs there and meaning that it doesn't ahve to be exactly linked.

That's very reassuring Andy; thanks! It does mean that my plan of putting all my money in a high-interest account is going to give less return then i thought, though.

Reply 17

apd35

9

FadeToBlackout

its the "broadly"... I'm no lawyer, but it seems they're covering their backs there and meaning that it doesn't ahve to be exactly linked.

That's very reassuring Andy; thanks! It does mean that my plan of putting all my money in a high-interest account is going to give less return then i thought, though.

If you can afford to put it in a high-interest account, you're in a fortunate position. My ISA pays about 4.5% interest, so if I was able to stick it all in that account, I'd still be making a decent amount.

Reply 18

FadeToBlackout

15

I can only afford it through saving quite literally every penny and spending only £10 a week on myself, if that, for three years before uni... my parents being money-nazis!

Just to reiterate my earlier point for teh OP:

It DOESN'T matter how much cash you have or whetehr or not you can afford it. You WILL get bursaries and support and you WILL be able to afford it.

To paraphrase JFK: "Ask not if you can afford Cambridge, but if Cambridge wants you".

Reply 19

Ditting Suck

8

apd35

It is linked to inflation, not equal to it. IIRC, inflation is 2.2% making student loans 1% above it, which considering your increased earning potential due to having a degree isn't a lot.

No you're just speaking rubbish. Thoe whole justification for tuition fees was based on this 'increased earning potential', but its calculation is based on the past several decades. Over that time, University admissions have risen drastically (from roughly 10% to roughly 40%), completely invalidating calculations of graduates' 'increased earning potential'.

Can I afford Cambridge?

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