Paying for university - Help!

[Motig]

How the hell do you do it ? Basically daughter wants to go to Uni in Dunedin next year but by the time all our bills (mortgage, rates, insurance, just living etc ) are paid we have no spare cash. She would have to pay course fees, books, Hostel fees and god knows what else plus some living allowance would be needed (cant stay in her room all the time !) I've looked at Student loans on the net but it appears they only pay some of the accomodation costs and by my very rough reckoning there would be a shortfall or about $150-$200 a week. So what I'm asking is how did you manage to get yourself or son/daugther thru Uni ? We have suggested she work for a year but all her friends are going this year so shes determined to go to. Advice or a direction to find out how everything works welcomed.

[Cruisin' Craig]

Will she qualify for a students allowance? OR does it all have to go on student loan?

[BIHB@0610]

StudyLink (student loans) will pay all her course fees, and at least $1000 toward course related costs like text books, computer, etc. She should get $150 a week living allowance too. Look into the student halls/hostels - they're often heaps cheaper than flatting (though I was in Auckland - not sure what it's like in Dunedin).

I think your advice is good - she should take a year off first. Apart from the financial side of things, it's a good idea to get some life experience behind you before varsity. If she wants to disregard your advice, she needs to find a way to pay. Part time work should be easy to get - and there are around five months holiday a year at varsity so she'll earn quite a bit in the holidays. Sounds to me like you helping her out financially is not an option so stop worrying about how you're going to do it - just accept it's not gonna happen.

Bottom line is, varsity costs heaps. That's why we earn so much when we graduate p/t.

[merv]

Yeah here's the bad news - if you don't earn much she might be able to get a student allowance because that is means tested. If you earn plenty then she won't be entitled to an allowance but can get a loan instead. Sheesh you see you can't win, and in both cases if she is living away from home the allowance or the loan won't cover her living expenses and who has to pay but you, or magically she will get a job to pay the difference.

My daughter has been in the South Island at Uni for a few years now. Course fees get paid by the loan and they pay for books and extras like that (meaning it all gets added to the loan which must be repaid) and she claims the maximum loan to try and live on, but that is only $150 pw. Rent, food etc just aren't covered - she works every week, but still we have to tip a lot of money into her. I would say I've spent close to about two new motorbikes keeping her there and I just keep saying to her I hope you don't forget us when we are old.

At least you must live nearby being in Otago - mine costs us airfares quite often and stuff like that. Luckily when my son went through Uni he went to Vic and lived at home so his costs weren't too high. Daughter did hostel for the first year and it cost around $200pw so there was a $50 shortfall before she even tried to live. So what I'm adding here is you have to be prepared for extra costs now and then too - like friends will want to fly to Auckland for a music gig like Big Day Out and she'll want to go too - who pays? You of course.

I know this isn't very helpful but yes it is expensive and you need to work that out with her and don't underestimate the costs - if you don't have enough she should leave it a year.

[BIHB@0610]

Oh - you asked how we got ourselves through uni (if like me your parents didn't help) - massive student loan for me. I graduated in 1997 and the other day when I rang for a balance it's still at $7,000. Just one of those things these days

[Steam]

Hostel fees and god knows what else

Firstly, student hostels are insanely expensive, have her live in a flat instead. Flats are heaps cheaper. I got by on $140 per week living carefully, that included everything, rent, power, phone, food, transport, etc.
And I worked 15 hours a week through uni to give me beer money. That's just 3 hours a night cleaning up at a supermarket or video store. Or Saturday and Sunday.

Or just say sorry, and she can wait till she's 25, and she can get the allowance for free.

It would be cheaper to send her to Europe for a couple of years and she could work over there in London or something. Uni is expensive and sometimes a waste of time.

[Tank]

is she hot?

Other than that - she can do what a lot of other students do - and get a job. Its hard work - but a lot of uni students have a lot of time available to work - generally a lot more than they let on - esp. in the first year.

[phantom]

My youngest has just started at Vic this year and is in a hostel. As I am only working part time and her mother doesn't seem to work at all ( can you tell I am divorced ) Fran qualifies for a student allowance. She can pay her fees and rent but basically that's all. For anything else she has to get a part time job. ( never mind her worst mark is better than my best mark when I tried university )

[HTFU]

most people I went through uni with worked nights and weekends. Retail, supermarket and pubs were the big ones and we saved a bit of cash doing summer jobs during the holidays. If she wants to go play with her friends this year then she got to do some work. My old man had no money but apparently too much for allowance. So I put as much as I could on the loan to pay course costs and living allowance then worked my ring off the rest of the year to make up the difference. This was 1996-2000 so was cheaper to live back then according to the news last night. I ended up with about $15000 student loan for a 3 year degree and 1 year diploma (did get about $14000 in scholarship money so that helped )

And for all you parents with little children - ASG - look it up on the web.

Every dime you put in you get back as a lump sum ($25000 per kid) when they go off to study. The returns from your investment covers most course costs and gives them an allowance. Have friends that have teenage kids that have gone through it and my kids are on it and shit when I think only 10 years before my first one is there glad we did it

Low risk investment so returns are not huge but better than doing nothing and the lump sum you can spend on a midlife crisis or use towards making up any shortfall.

[Motig]

Thanks Folks I figured it wasn't going to be easy. I was just under the assumption that the student loan covered everything. She got a job this year but working every 2nd weekend doesnt give her a lot the upside is she might be able to get a transfer to the same outfit in Dunedin that would be good.

[BuFfY]

Well I graduate on Wednesday so I guess I know how to get through 3 years of studying!
I got a student loan. I also got the $150 a week living costs which goes on top of your student loan.
I also worked a friday night and a saturday at Just Jeans for 2 years of it and in my final year I worked for Lion Nathan.

If you can't afford to help her out she may qualify for a student loan. If she does then she is bloody lucky!

I don't think she should take the year off. Most people who have a 'gap' year don't end up going to uni because they are used to having money.

My sister went to uni in Dunedin straight after 7th form but only stayed for a year. She had a few years working and is now studying to be a teacher (just like her lil sis) and is finding it *so* hard to pay bills, live normally etc.

Your daughter needs to learn to do it herself. Even if you help her out by giving her $50 a week just to help her out and send down packages every once and awhile, but there are so many jobs down there and it will keep her from drinking as much as they do down there if she has a job she has to go to

[HTFU]

Thanks Folks I figured it wasn't going to be easy. I was just under the assumption that the student loan covered everything. She got a job this year but working every 2nd weekend doesnt give her a lot the upside is she might be able to get a transfer to the same outfit in Dunedin that would be good.

Another option is if she is going flatting with some mates down there and not in the halls then she could study part time in the first year. Doing less papers gives more time for work and actually can be better for some students. She still gets to hang with her friends, would have less study pressure and get other skills working.

If she is planning on the halls then I think you would have to be full time unless they were struggling to fill them.

Just another option but end of the day the little princess is going to have to work to help get there.

[vindy500]

i seem to survive on my student allowance, if the accomadation is too expensive, find somewhere cheaper

[HornetBoy]

Your thinking of paying for her fees And living she is one lucky girl !!

Paying for my uni currently am on my second year of 4 years with a wooping $50,000 debt to my name already i just use the $1000 course related fee's(if i have to pay for books i just get them out of pocket as i go) and the student loan of $150 to get me through rent and living etc.
Parents dont have enough money to fork out for any of that nor would i want them to be getting themselves into debt because of me
You can also get another $30+ a week (this is what the government thinks we pay for rent,what a joke eh!) which i think is called the living allowance or the like which would go on top of the $150 .Only do occasional work ontop of this to cover my bike and weekend exploits

Quite a downer when i think what kind of debt im going to have when i finish the four years ,so im banking on the assumption that knowledge = $$$ but we all know that employers take experience over this predominantly but hey got to start somewhere eh!

[karla]

I don't think she should take the year off. Most people who have a 'gap' year don't end up going to uni because they are used to having money.

Agreed. My son wanted to take a gap year with all his mates, and I suggested he get one year at varsity under his belt first. He's now into his third year - after one year he figured he was pretty close to half way thru so stuck around. He lives at home (cheapest option for us all), works two jobs and studies really hard. He has gotten by with a student loan and living at home allowance (I don't earn enough to prevent him from getting anything).

It was so much easier in my time, when I started at uni it was free, and by my forth year it cost heaps. I hope for his sake that he will get a job that pays enough to make his time there worthwhile - as he pointed out tonight it is costing him twice, not only for his fees but also for the years he isn't earning. If he was working now he could be saving towards a home.

Still, he is passionate about study and learning, drinks very little, and is learning stickability, responsibility, time and self-management skills. Many of his gap year friends are heavily into drugs, alcohol and partying. The kind of uni lifestyle I had to begin with! Funny how time changes things.