Last updated:
09 December 2011
Look beyond your horizons
Financing University
The cost of going to university is frightening, and seems set to become even more so. From 2012, fees for most universities are around £9,000 per annum, probably with annual inflation increases.
Costs include: tuition fees, accommodation costs, and general living expenses. A number of university web sites have calculators illustrating typical costs and, despite the different models they use, provide a remarkable similarity in their results. Accommodation/living expenses will be typically of the order of £7,500 pa.
Finding the money is more complicated. Apart from money saved towards the costs, there are three main forms of funding. In general, loans are repayable while grants are not.
Government grants and loans:
Here there are: tuition fee loans, maintenance loans, and maintenance grants. The latter are means tested. All information is available through http://www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance.
University scholarships and bursaries:
These depend very much on the individual university, and are variously referred to as Awards, Grants, Bursaries and Scholarships. Some are awarded automatically, others may have to be applied for. Look on the web sites for the universities you are interested in.
In theory, the increased fees from 2012 mean increased financial assistance. At present, there seems little difference from previous years. Many universities are offering bursaries to students from low-income households, frequently in the form of reduced fees. There are (November 2011) enormous variations in the amount of a bursary, in the definition of low income household and in the duration of the award. Amounts vary from some hundreds of pounds to several thousands. Some depend on academic achievement.
To pay for this, many bursaries which were available in previous years have now been cut or removed completely.
Part-time employment:
Every university is aware of the need for students to earn money whilst studying and some have excellent support services designed to help find the part-time job needed to supplement loans and grants. Once again, check the web sites of the universities of interest.
I suppose there is a fourth source of funding - good old mum and dad. Parents, be prepared for this!
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