Fees Q & A with University of Huddersfield’s Student Finance Office

With all the recent news about the tuition fee changes, we want to give some straightforward information to prospective eligible home students and their parents about what it all means. To that end, we’ve spoken to our Student Finance Office to get to grips with the questions you want answered:

What fee will the University of Huddersfield be charging

£7,950 – This is our Fair Fee policy. Following the massive reductions in funding from the Government, this is what it will cost to provide everything you need for a world class degree programme. We are a debt-free University so none of that fee is going towards anything except providing you with the best education possible.

How will I pay this fee?

You will not have to pay the tuition fee upfront. The Government tuition fee loan covers all the costs of your tuition fee throughout the full duration of your degree course and is available to both full-time and part-time undergraduate students.

How do I get this tuition fee loan and what about my living costs?

You can apply online from December through the Student Finance England website. Living cost support is available for UK (not EU) students in the form of maintenance grants and loans. Maintenance grants details:

Means tested non-repayable grant of up to £3250 from the Government
Maximum grant is available for household incomes below £25,000
Partial grants available for household incomes up to £42,600

Maintenance loans are available to ALL full-time (UK) students. Maintenance loans details:

£5500 available for students not studying in London
£4375 available for students living in parental home
The maintenance loan is reduced by £0.50 for every £1 of maintenance grant received
35% of the maintenance loan is means tested for household incomes over £50,000

Grants are paid into your bank account each term and do not need to be paid back. Loans are also paid into your bank account each term and the repayment terms can be found on the Student Finance England website.

What other support is available to me?

The Government is introducing a National Scholarship Programme beginning in 2012/13. This will take the form of a tuition fee reduction, matched by the University, for disadvantaged students and provides £3,000 off your 1^st year tuition fee. You do not need to apply for this scholarship as you will be automatically put forward for it if you meet the criteria, which are:

Household income lower than £25,000
At least 280 UCAS points

I want to take a placement year as part of my degree, is this the same yearly tuition fee?

No, you do not pay the full tuition fee for a placement year. Universities can charge up to half the full yearly tuition fee (for Huddersfield that would be £3975) for a placement year. The University of Huddersfield will charge £500 for the placement year, and you can get a loan to pay this, as with other years. You will also be entitled to a reduced maintenance loan.

I don’t want to be saddled with massive debt before my life begins! Help!??

Step one, breathe. Step two, don’t believe the headlines or scaremongering.

In order to properly burst the panic bubble let’s be very open and precise. No student has to put their hand in their pocket to get a university education. In exactly the same way as it works now, your tuition fee for each year of your course will be paid to the University by the Government. Once you finish your degree, you will only repay the tuition fee loan based on what you are earning. If your income is below the £21,000 threshold, then you are not paying anything back at all.

And although the rise in tuition fees does increase the overall amount you will have borrowed, you will actually be making smaller repayments under the new scheme. Currently, £15,000 is what you have to earn before you’re paying some of your tuition fee loan back. So, under the new scheme, if you are earning £25,000 a year, you will be paying back the same as someone who earns £19,000 under the current scheme. Unlikely as it may seem, you are better off with the new system.

Plus, there's no charge for students repaying their loan early.

But with a debt like this, I’ll never get a mortgage…

This is another case of, “Sorry, that’s not correct.” When you are earning enough to have to pay back some of your loan (and do remember, if you are earning £25,000, you will only be paying back at the rate of approximately £0.97 pence per day), it will be coming out of your wages under the PAYE (pay as you earn) scheme. Separate arrangements will be made if you are self-employed, move overseas or are retired. As mortgage lenders base their lending on your net pay (the amount you receive after tax/NI/other deductions have been made), this is not a debt that will appear to them and, therefore, it can not and will not be used to prevent you from obtaining a mortgage.

Ok, so now I know the fee, the ways I can get support and the truth about paying it back, do I need to know anything else?

At this stage, not really. It might help some of you to know that additional support is available for students with children or disabilities but for that, and any other enquiries you might have, please don’t hesitate to contact our Student Finance Office who will have up-to-the-minute information and advice.

I have already studied at university. Can I get any help?

If you already hold a degree, there will not be any Government funding available for you. If you studied but did not complete your previous course, some funding may still be available for you. Please contact our Student Finance Office for further details.

One other thing we need to say now:

All this information is correct at time of publishing but everyone is waiting for the Government to publish a White Paper, setting out in detail their intentions for the Higher Education sector. If any of our information changes when this is published, we will update as soon as we can.