University Connections

The cost of going to University is higher than ever, and looks set to rise after the upcoming general election. The average student graduates with £20,000 worth of debt, and many students graduate with significantly more than that. At present, tuition fees are capped at just over £3,000 a year, so for a three year course, tuition fees account for just under half of that £20,000 debt.

Getting through University with the minimum amount of debt possible is all down to minimising the amount that you spend on the aspects that are not directly associated to the University itself. You can’t not pay the tuition fees, so at least £10,000 of debt is impossible to avoid.

The major costs are to do with student accommodation. Many people live in halls for their first year and then in private student accommodation in their second and third years. The average rent varies massively depending on which city you live in, but cheap rent does not necessarily mean cheap living. Sometimes more expensive rents include heating bills making them cheaper in the long run. Be careful when picking accommodation as it will have an enormous impact on your student experience and on your bank account.

Another key expense is the cost of staying in touch. At most Universities nearly everything is organised by mobile phone, although social networking sites are prominent, many students choose not to have a broadband connection in order to save money (as many students cancel internet contracts at the end of their stay in a house you often have to pay a connection fee as well as monthly costs). Due to improvements in the mobile internet network with companies like Vodafone investing massively in their systems many students choose to access the internet through their smartphone. Getting a good contract deal before you go to University could save you hundreds of pounds as barely a day will go by when you don’t have to use your phone and the cost of pay-as-you-go can really rack up.

Staying with mobile phones briefly, apps can be incredibly useful for students. There are apps around that can find discount deals on food, drinks, restaurants, cinema tickets, literally anything you can imagine. The best way of saving money at University is to make the most of every half price deal that you can find and having a Blackberry (have a look at the Vodafone website to survey their full Blackberry range – they might be more affordable than you think) or another type of phone that can use apps can be a really good way of doing this.

At the end of the day, it’s impossible to leave University without spending a lot of money, but if you’re careful and budget well you can save thousands of pounds.