Final year student loans - less than other years (Student Loans Co.)

Member Name: h.rayfield

Product:	Student Loans Co.
Date:	14/07/00 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: extra income with low interest rates

Disadvantages: Substantial drop in borrowing amount for final year students

I have just graduated from University and my final year was financially very difficult. This was mainly due to the fact that my student loan was decreased by £800. This is standard practice for student loans. In my first and second years, I was able to borrow around £2300, but in my final year the amount was £1500. This made life really tough. What I don't understand is why the amount you can borrow in your final year is significantly less. Surely the last year of University is the hardest and you should be employed as little as possible.

My advice to anyone about to enter their third year is get saving! I have had to work a lot over the last year just to make ends meet (only just) and I even had to work during my finals, as I couldn't afford to eat at one point. Yes, I should have budgeted better, but that extra £800 would have made a huge difference to me. Why on earth do final year students get less money than first and second years? The final year is the most important year of your degree and the last thing you should be worrying about is money.

Lots of other finalists have been in the same position as me and this could have been avoided if the amount of money we could borrow had not been slashed.

Overall, student loans are a great idea - you can borrow a lot, pay it back once you have left University and the interest is really low, but if you are a student, be prepared for the substantial drop in your income and get saving.

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