The merits of the tuition fee system in England have been debated for years now, amid concerns that neither students or taxpayers are receiving genuine value for money.
Beyond this, the House of Lords economic affairs committee has revealed that student loan debt could rise to over £1 trillion during the next 25 years, with much of this money unlikely to ever be paid back.
From a student perspective, there’s no doubt that it can be difficult to live from day-to-day while in higher education. In this post, we’ll suggest three tips that will help you if you’re struggling for cash:
- Create an Income Stream
We start with the most obvious but challenging option available to students, which involves them creating an income stream to supplement their loans.
The issue here is that such an endeavour takes times to pursue, potentially compromising the quality of your studies in the process.
One idea is to secure part-time work, which ideally offers flexible hours that can be worked around your learning schedule. You’ll also need to create time for revision and studying away from the lecture theatre, so try to limit the evenings and the weekends that you work.
You may also want to leverage a particular skill to launch a side venture while at university, so long as this is low-cost and can be managed with minimal fuss.
- Monetise your Study Notes and Textbooks
As you progress through your journey at university, it’s interesting to think that there are always new students joining you on the same path.
As a result of this, there’s a constant demand for specific textbooks and learning materials, which you may have used during your first year but no longer require. There are now sites through which you can sell these materials to like-minded students, enabling you to raise cash as others save money on their own expenses.
You can even sell your study notes in some instances, as these may help students who are beginning to get to grips with a particular subject.
- Consider Taking out a Short-term Loan
If neither of these options are viable, as a last resort you could consider taking out a short-term, low cost loan to tide you over.
If you do follow this path, however, there’s a couple of things to bear in mind. Firstly, be sure to seek out specialist service providers that have tailored their products for students, while also reviewing terms to identify loans that offer the lowest rates of interest.
On a final note, be sure to borrow the precise amount that you need, before factoring in the APR to determine the total cost of borrowing and ensure that you can make the necessary repayments.
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