Safin

Ok so we now have dual nationality and are thinking ahead to potentially 3 lots of uni fees

UK
As far as I can understand it to be eligible for domestic uk fees (max and typically 9000pa gbp currently) and the loans attached to this you have to be ordinarily domiciled for 3 years immediately prior to the start of the course. Otherwise you are slammed for international fees/no loan even as a uk citizen. I am struggling to find an average for this cost though - Anyone able to help?

Aus
Any citizen is eligible to get a commonwealth Supported place and a HECS-Help loan. I can't see any reference to residence. So does this mean if we live back in the UK and DS wants to go to an AU uni he can do so as if he'd been living here all along? Fees seem to be average of $7750 (4355-9080) depending on nature of course.

Loan repayment seems to kick in at a higher wage in Aus although both here and UK interest rates seem to be set at RPI/CPI.

Anyone help on the questions I have or have any other relevant considerations?

NB Obviously this is not the only factor in deciding where to live but it is a major $$$ one ......

Pollyana

Have a look in the UK forum, its been discussed in there several times in depth

Safin

ta - didn't think of that forum. Do you mean MBT uk?

roaringmouse

Shouldn't it be your 3 children considering this, and how they will pay/get loans/work if they choose to go to uni?

Sue

I can't help with the loan thing, but fee wise International students (unless you are referring to Scotland) will be paying the same as English students. Prior to the change international students basically paid the full cost of their education whilst "home" students had their fees subsidized by the government and so their fees were cheaper. Of course that's changed now and "home" students have to pay for the full cost of tuition, but may qualify for government backed loans.

My son is at university in the UK and he will be paying the same fees in 2012/13 as the "home" students. As far as I am aware there are no plans to increase the fees charged to International students:
Source: http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/fee...t.php#fees2012

As Pollyana mentioned this subject comes up quite a lot in the MBTTUK forum so if you do a search in there you will find lots of discussion and info about this topic.

dave99

One thing you should consider as well is where they are going to live after finishing uni. Often they will be given industry local contacts in their chosen proffessions during the stay at uni and then when they finish they will be helped to find work.

Also there is differences in the education, aus is better for some things uk better for others, not to mention differences inwhat they teach. For example someone who is taught accounting will be taught how its done in aus yet the rules and laws in the uk will work differently. In that example there will be some basics that are common but it would be easyer to get work in aus if you have studied in aus as those are the methods and laws you have learned.

I knew someone who studied accounting and were put onto a part time job at a company while still at uni so that when they finished uni they then went full time at that company.
So an important question is, once uni finishes where would you want to be living.

canadaeh

For HECS in Australia there is no resident requirement bull like the UK and Ireland. Australia considers it's citizens, as actual citizens - no matter where you lived.

UK and Ireland punish those who step outside of the box, or who had parents step out side of the box.

Also don't forget, you have UK passports, which means EU, you can also go to University in any other EU country - Fees are cheap, some are free, they have many degrees in English and they don't have the ridiculous 3 years rule, if you are an EU citizen, they treat you as an EU citizen.

If you want to have a look there is a site that you can find degrees across Europe, it tells you if it is in English and the Fess (the high ones are Non EU citizens, and the EU ones are free or about 1k depending on country)

www.bachelorsportal.eu/
www.mastersportal.eu/

MacLover

Yes you have to have been working and paying taxes in the UK for at least three years prior to your child starting university to qualify for loans.

I know of three people who are classed as international students, one is actually a British citizen but parents have not lived here for 5 odd years and he pays around £10k... if he were to go to Oxford it would be nearer £18k or £20k if it were a Science/Lab Based subject.

According to the Guadian there is an average of £10,463 (Source, based on year 2010-2011).

I personally think it would be cheaper and better for them to go to an Australian University unless it is like Cambridge or Oxford for instance.

Hope it helps somewhat.

killerhales

International fees will vary depending on the specific course and university. In my case, courses that my daughter is looking at range between GBP 12,500 to 15,000. For budgeting purposes we have also allowed GBP5K for uni accomodation in the first year and GBP5K for all other expenses.