Paying for your Edumacation

[King Henry V]

Universtiy tuition is free here, so one only has to pay the exam fees which are a trivial sum, about £200. Books and maintenance are of course not free, but as I won't be moving out of home to pay the ludicrously expensive rents here, it doesn't really matter.

[gunslinger]

How I (an American) paid for college:

1: Joined the National Guard, spent the Summer after High School in Basic Training, attended drill one weekend per month, thereafter and two weeks annual training each Summer. For this, I got 100% free tuition at any state university, pay for the weekend drills and annual trainings, plus a Montgomery G.I. Bill check for a few hundred dollars each month. (Also got good resume material for my chosen field as well as the opportunity to visit several other countries during the two week annual trainings, which is rare for middle class Americans).

2: Got a job processing the scholarships for other people on National Guard Grants and Veteran's Grants at the University.

3: Got a job as a Resident Assistant. R/As maintain some semblance of order within the dormitories, help new students, etc. In return, they receive free room and board at the dormitory.

4: Worked Summers in the agriculture industry.

I ended up with about $3,500.00 in student loan debt, mostly from the first year when I wasn't eligible to be an R/A. Most of that could have been avoided if I hadn't drank approximately $2,000.00 worth of beer and $4,000.00worth of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum.

My parents had no money to spend on my college, but they made too much for free assistance (the reality of lower-middle class in America). It can be done, though, if you are willing to work hard for it. I have no complaints.

[Ironside]

Free uni here, and you'll get about 1500 sek a month as "welfare" (if you study full time) and can take student loans upto a total of 7200 sek (both the welfare and the loan together).

You can get this for 6 years (full loan) and will have to pay it back within 25 years. Low interest, but IIRC it's slighty higher than index based though.

[Goofball]

The Canadian system is similar to the British: low/deferred interest loans until finished university and working.

Parents can also help out their children by investing in a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). I can put a maximum of $4,000 per year into a plan, and the government will match whatever I contribute $0.20 on the dollar, to a maximum $400 grant per year per child. All growth/income of the investments are non-taxable, but taxed as normal income in the hands of my children when the funds are withdrawn for school.

Pretty good deal. We've been contirbuting monthly since our first child was born, and it looks like we should have no trouble paying for most of our kids' education when the time comes.

The Lord helps those who help themselves...

Even though I'm not particularly religious, I am a big fan of that old gem...

[Duke Malcolm]

Well, the Glorious Executive of the People's Republic of Scotland decided to abolish fees for people in Scotland (and after EU legislation, everyone else in Europe bar the English) studying for their first degree, with certain (very few) reservations. It has still kept grants and bursaries for poor people at the same level, for some reason. It also requests a Graduate Endowment on people who are not too poor of ~£2000 to pay for more grants and bursaries.

This has rendered the PRS's universities somewhat poor, and strapped for cash. The Lib Dems and SNP hope to abolish all fees, much to the horror of the universities and academics, and the almost constantly striking/protesting university staff, who have requested fees be re-instated.

[Axeknight]

The Isle of Man has no universities, but when Manx students go to a UK university the Manx government pays our tuition fees and provides a small monthly allowance.

I love the Isle of Man.