Student Finances 2011-2012
Posted by: Comms Team on 07.09.11 | 1 comment
There are simply loads of articles and resources online to help students with their finances. To help you find the best advice available we are going to put links to some of the best out there.
There are really two key areas to your student finances; your student loans i.e. your tuition fees loan and your maintenance loan, and your student bank account with its interest free overdraft. We are not going to include any other types of borrowing as any other types are a bad idea! Do not get a credit card as these are not going to be interest free, even for students :)
Tuition Fees Loan
This loan is paid straight to your university each year to cover the cost of your tuition fees. In the academic year 2011/2012 the maximum a university can charge for tuition is £3,375. Whatever your tuition fee charge is, you can borrow this from the government at very favourable rates and they will pay the money you borrow straight to your university, basically you never see this money so you can’t blow it ;)
Check out Money Saving Expert for more details on the tuition fees loan…
Maintenance Loan
Every full-time student is entitled to apply for a maintenance loan. This is basically the money that the government will loan to you so you can live whilst you’re studying at university. This loan is to cover your rent, food and entertainment (not that you will be going out much obviously :)
Everyone is entitled to a maintenance loan of up to 75% of the full standard loan amount (the amount you can get varies by area i.e. where you are studying e.g. you get more to study in London as it is a stinger to live there :) The loan amount you get above this guaranteed 75% is income assessed so it depends on your parent’s income as to how much you can borrow.
Money Saving Expert have a great guide to the maintenance loan here…
Student Bank Accounts
The major high street banks will now be queuing up to get you as a customer whilst you are a student. They want your custom now as they assume you will probably stay with them once you leave university and then they will start making money from you! All of the major banks will offer you an interest free overdraft and, sorry to say this, you are going to need it!
When choosing your student bank account you are going to want the one that comes with the largest interest free overdraft as borrowing money this way makes much more sense than a credit card of any other type of interest based loan…it’s interest free!
Golden rule: make sure you never go over your overdraft limit. If you do, you are going to be charged, so don’t do it!
Good Luck
There you go, that’s your student finance options in a nut shell. Basically, borrow all the money you need using the interest free over draft offered by your student bank account and the low interest rate loans available from the government. Do not be tempted to get a credit card, they will not be interest free and are a bad way to borrow money in the long term. If you are still struggling for cash, why not get a part time job.
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This is exctaly what I was looking for. Thanks for writing!
Comment by Kelis — October 2, 2011 @ 6:51 pm