Stay at home students on the increase as costs spiral.  
More and more students are opting to stay at home in an effort to afford university. It means many choose their college according to location rather than course, and have to forgo the fun of living on campus.
 

The cost of studying away from home is currently estimated at around £7,011* per year, according to the latest National Union of Student figures. It means many graduates leave university with huge debts.

Faye Thomas is looking forward to her first term at Leeds University where she is studying English. She lives less than ten miles from the campus and will be staying at home with her parents in an effort to make her further education affordable. 

She says: “I did look at other universities but in the end going to Leeds means I can study for my degree without worrying where the next meal is coming from and hopefully without building up huge debts for the future.

“I will be able to concentrate on my studies and, with the help of a part-time job enjoy a reasonable quality of life which many students simply cannot do without the help of loans”. 

Faye is not alone and it is for this reason that in a free booklet, “The Financial aspects of Higher Education”, parents of children as young as three are now being encouraged to start saving a small regular amount for the future. 

Education experts say if parents don’t start regular savings when the children start Primary school they could face costs of around £32,000* in 13 years time for their child’s three year degree course.  It is the Government’s stated aim that by 2010 at least fifty per cent of today’s primary schoolchildren will go on to some form of higher education. Many infants could face a tough financial future if parents don’t plan ahead, and won’t be able to make choices when it comes to university. 

American parents automatically start saving for college when their child is born but here in the UK we’ve been used to grants and help towards tuition fees. Now the grants have disappeared and tuition fees are increasing, we have to plan ahead to make sure our children can make their own choices without being saddled with huge debts when they graduate.

  *Based on NUS figures (outside London) for academic year 2001/2002 amounting to £5,936 plus tuition fees totaling £1,075. This figure is rolled up at an assumed rate of inflation of 3% a year for 13 years.