Scholarship programme cuts mean reliance on student loans

Student loans may be the only hope for some to receive higher education after programme cuts.

11:04 30 June 2013

Students may be forced to rely more on student loans after a recent announcement that a student scholarship programme will have a large budget cut to the tune of £100 million. In addition to that news, it seems that the remaining funds are to be used on postgraduate work rather than undergraduate work.

 

If you are a little worried about whether or not you’ll be able to handle the amount of student loans you need to complete your undergraduate studies, here are a few ideas that might help you.

 

• Repayment plans—remember that the repayment plans on student loans might be flexible to allow you a little leeway if you run into financial difficulties. If repayment is your major concern, contact the companies who might be funding your education to find out what options are available.

 

• Savings—if you won’t be attending university for a while start saving as much as possible in something like a Cash ISA so you can be earning untaxed interest. This can help supplement the student loans you receive.

 

• Grants—while the major scholarship programme may be ineffective for you, there are still grants available, and certain universities may offer their own scholarships. Use the internet to sign up on websites that can help match you up to different scholarship and grant programmes.

 

• Plan ahead—sometimes the only thing you can do if your student loans might not cover your expenses is leave yourself enough to try a temporary job, or apply for multiple different grants and scholarships. The websites may collect the data and match you up to potential programmes, but the reality is that applying for all of them and sorting through the requirements is time-consuming. You won’t be able to find something in a jiffy, so you may end up needing to postpone your enrollment if you don’t have enough time to collect the necessary funds.