# Student loan YES or NO ??



## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

Hi 

My Girlfriend just started 2nd year in Her Uni and as we paid from savings for 1st year we never think about Student loan but now many her friends try to explain that it will be better for us just to take student loan and hope we never have to pay it fully back ... I read some information on moneysavingexpert but we are still unsure what to do .

Is there any catch to it ??


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

not sure what you mean by not paying it back!?!? are people really saying to take out a load and not pay it back!?!? wow... great uni students we are producing in this country :wall: :lol:

loans are payable after you (or her) starts earning more than £15,795 a year, which should be pretty quick if the qualification is useful... 

9% gets paid back through PAYE each year...

it only gets written off if she dies, never earns over the threshold, or can't work for whatever reason...

as to the question of should she take one out... only you guys know your finances and know if you need it...

:thumb:


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Once you've had the loan for a certain time it's also written off. From April 2013 the loan is only payable once you earn over £16,365 as well.

What I pay back on mine per year pays the interest and another £100 odd, so by the time it is written off when I'm 65 (I got mine in 2002) I probably wouldn't of cleared it all.

I got mine at the wrong time cos the year after they changed it to being written off after only 25 years and currently it's 30 years. I would've been paying mine off over 40 years so got the worst deal!

I would definitely get one though, you won't miss what you have to pay back each month, it's quite a small amount given the size of the loan.

Just worked mine out roughly and when I'm 65, assuming I'm still earning the same I would've only just paid back the original amount I borrowed. So really got the loan interest free.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

as Cueball says.. Hoping to never pay it back is a silly thing to hope...

Personally I'd rather hope I did have to pay it back, then I'd know that I had a decent job with good income, rather than hoping for a low paid job so I didn't have to pay a tiny amount to a loan payment.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

The Cueball said:


> loans are payable after you (or her) starts earning more than £15,795 a year





Pezza4u said:


> From April 2013 the loan is only payable once you earn over £16,365 as well.


I think there are different values for Scotland and England...

and from september 2012, they now have a plan 1 and plan 2 as well!

plan 2 starts at £21k for repayment!?



http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3866794&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

:thumb:


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## MEH4N (Mar 15, 2012)

many things you need to consider here. Ive heard so many people say this to me that they dont plan to pay it back but its rubbish apart from a few circumstances. 

is she living out? Can you actually pay it now? Does she budget with spending weekly/monthly?

its £3465 and if paid in one go, you get 2% off.


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Alzak said:


> ..... but now many her friends try to explain that it will be better for us just to take student loan and hope we never have to pay it fully back ... I read some information on moneysavingexpert but we are still unsure what to do .


Seriously:wall:....... good to see our taxes being put to another great use. It's my decision to pay for my own kids education and one that I'm happy to do, but paying for people I don't even know......


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

I took one... will be paid off in the next 8 months.

Never take it out with the hope of never having to repay, that thinking is all that's wrong with the world.


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## LittleMissTracy (May 17, 2012)

If it was me, and it's only an opinion, hold out for as long before getting a loan. 
It was always my way of thinking that you go to uni to get a qualification so you can earn a good wage, otherwise the degree is questionable.
And earning 16k to avoid paying back what someone has borrowed (or lent) is bad advice. 
I chose not to go to uni for this reason, no guarantee of a appropriate job or career after it, and a debt at an age of 21 is crazy.
Good luck


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

I agree with Spoony

Also would the loan not count against her in future for any further borrowing like mortgage etc?


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## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

The Cueball said:


> not sure what you mean by not paying it back!?!? are people really saying to take out a load and not pay it back!?!? wow... great uni students we are producing in this country :wall: :lol:
> 
> loans are payable after you (or her) starts earning more than £15,795 a year, which should be pretty quick if the qualification is useful...
> 
> ...


Is not like to not repay it back I just used wrong words after those 25 years often You pay back much less than You actually borrow ... 
I'm not a debt person and so far never had any debt and I would like to keep my finances this way lol

I just was't sure how it works and what people think about this .



Mehan said:


> many things you need to consider here. Ive heard so many people say this to me that they dont plan to pay it back but its rubbish apart from a few circumstances.
> 
> is she living out? Can you actually pay it now? Does she budget with spending weekly/monthly?
> 
> its £3465 and if paid in one go, you get 2% off.


Yes we pay in one go.



Beancounter said:


> Seriously:wall:....... good to see our taxes being put to another great use. It's my decision to pay for my own kids education and one that I'm happy to do, but paying for people I don't even know......


Just a reminder few Years ago high education was "free" so someone paid for Yours and now You pay this back in Your taxes .

After small chat with my GF we decided to leave this as it is now and just use savings to pay tuition fee, in the end she do not go there to get low paid job after that ...


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## MA3RC (Jun 19, 2012)

Obviously if you can afford to pay the tuition fees then don't take it. I took only the tuition fee loan because I couldn't afford to pay them off in one go. 

To support myself through university I got a part time job 

I have since found a well paying job and the repayments are so tiny in comparison to my wage, I hardly notice them. 

What really annoys me is the other people on my course who took every loan available to them and left uni with £15k + in debt (great basis in which to set the rest of your life). With all the money they took they threw it away on crap! There's no other way to put it. Extravagant nights out, ****, holidays etc. 

I don't have a problem with how people want to spend their money. It's their thinking "It'll be scrapped in 25 years". "I'll never earn £15k a year", "I'll worry when it comes around". 

They now have minimum wage jobs, pay nothing back on their loans. Relying on the tax payer to bail them out! It stinks. 

You work hard throughout your life to get the best things, whilst watching some lay about who is too lazy or fussy sit by and feed off the system. It's disgusting. Knowing all of your taxes are paying for them to have an easy life. 

Something really needs to change


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## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

We planned to just pay as for first year but most people in Her group pay for fees using loan and I just was curious how this looks like in "real" life ...

I'm still shocked as most of her group is so sure they will never have to pay this loan back in full.


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## MEH4N (Mar 15, 2012)

i have so many mates who spend alot to live out and do the whole student thing, i suppose for the one uni life you get. Id rather spend my money on just the tuition fees and my car and running costs. If you work you defo appreciate your hard earned money and you eventually realise whats more important. I may sound tight but i feel better knowing i wont have to pay a loan back later.


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

your student loan is a different loan, doesn't affect mortgage at all...
I've just checked mine and the interest is 1.5% per year... never going to get a rate that good ever again!! Recently debated paying mine off, out of savings but then worked out how much I earn on savings v the interest on the loan and even at ****e interest rates I may as well keep the loan!
Would love to pay it off but with the housing market being on its **** and borrowing criteria so harsh would be mad to do so... I dont earn enough to start a proper payment plan - just ticking the interest off...just!


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

I don't think I even paid my uni fees they were free but this was 10 years ago now. The student loan was to help with buying books, equipment etc...if you used it for that!!

It's luck of the draw as to whether you get a decent job at the end of it. Unfortunately for me I picked the wrong industry to get into and after leaving uni everyone else was getting into it and the salary just decreased.

The advise is to pay as little of the loan off as possible, i.e. just what is taken from your salary. There is no point in paying more of it off given how low the interest rate is. Cos of the credit crunch it's only 1.5% (the current interest rate + 1% up to a max of 3.6%) so even if you earn £30k a year you would pay about £100 a month back.



The Cueball said:


> I think there are different values for Scotland and England...
> 
> and from september 2012, they now have a plan 1 and plan 2 as well!
> 
> ...


I think the £21k threshold begins for students starting this year. Those who already have loans will be on the other lower rate.



Will_G said:


> I agree with Spoony
> 
> Also would the loan not count against her in future for any further borrowing like mortgage etc?


No it doesn't count as normal debt so won't go against you.


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