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The Parent's Guide to University Study: Part Three - Finance and Careers
Something of great concern for all parents when their children are in the process of deciding whether to go to university or college is how much will it cost. In recent years, the area of student finance is one that has received most attention, whether students are considering staying locally for their degree program (either locally to home, or in the same country or state) or farther afield, in another country as part of their degree or a full-length program.
Depending on where a student studies, the issue of tuition fees is the first that has to be considered for any parent. With very few exceptions, Denmark, Finland and Sweden being the most notable cases, most countries will charge some level of tuition fee for providing bachelors-level education. In the USA, this will vary as to the type of university your children attend; if its a state run institution located in the same area as you live, then tuition fees will be in the region of $8,000 or less a year. If it is a state run institution in another state, then fees are more likely to be $15,000 a year. Private institutions, such as those that appear in the top 200 universities in the world, might have tuition fees double that amount.
In the UK, tuition fees of up to £3,070 per year are charged for all undergraduate programs for students resident in the UK or the European Union. Other students are charged much higher tuition fees, most commonly varying between £6,500 and £13,500 per year, depending on the nature of the academic program and the prestige of the university offering the degree. For UK and EU students, the tuition fees are generally not payable up front, though students are free to pay their fees on an annual basis if they choose to. In most cases, however, students will be offered the opportunity to take out a Student Loan for Fees (full details are available at www.slc.co.uk) to cover their tuition fees. Upon graduation, students are liable to make monthly repayments on any outstanding loan amount, depending on their individual circumstances and the EU country in which they have settled.
Getting help for funding an undergraduate program is not an easy task. Many universities around the world prioritise the recruitment of international students at the graduate level and so aim their scholarships, prizes and bursaries at those students seeking masters and research programs. That said financial aid is available if you look hard enough. At Australian, Dutch, UK and US universities for example, students may be eligible for a range of awards that are managed and funded by individual institutions. The best way to locate such awards is by checking the individual websites of the specific universities your son or daughter is interested in. Awards cover many different kinds of study and can range from full tuition fee and living scholarships to much smaller bursaries related to individual academic programs.
Where there are no means of institutional financial support offered, parents can now access a commercial loans offered by banks and other financial institutions specific to supporting study at university. Banks in Argentina, Canada, China, India, Singapore and the USA commonly provide loans for prospective bachelors students seeking education either in their home country or internationally. Such loans are normally guaranteed by parents.
Though financing your son or daughter through university can seem like a daunting task, the investment in a world-class undergraduate education tends to pay dividends. International research from various sources has put the benefit of an undergraduate degree in financial terms measured against those with no university qualifications from anywhere between £35,000 and £350,000 over the course of a working lifetime. In the UK alone, graduates are said to earn 25% on average more than their peers who choose not to go to university - the same is true in Australia, Canada and the USA.
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