| Embarking
on a university level education is an incredibly disrupting but also
very exciting period of anyone’s life. It will often involve
moving off and out of the family home, maybe to a completely new area.
This in itself will prove incredibly expensive, since covering the
cost of rent, utility bills and food, although usually cheaper around
student areas, will still prove rather a stretch financially for a
student, who is struggling to balance studying and perhaps a part-time
job. In addition, money must be found to cover the cost of student
tuition fees and the books and resources required for their course.
However, these expenses stretch, in reality over an average of three
years at university and sometimes longer. To many young people, the
expense of university is rather intimidating and can be very discouraging.
Yet, there is an answer to some of the financial burden, in the form
of a student loan. A student loan is available to any student entering
higher education of a full time basis, although there are some special
schemes open to part-time students.
The most important factor to consider in the process of your student
loan application is to take action as early as possible. Every year
thousands of students are applying for student loans, and so this
means that there are thousands of application forms to deal with
and loans to process. This means that if you are looking to ensure
that your student loan is available for you, on your first day of
term, you must stick to application dead lines produced by the student
loans company.
All student loans are processed through the your local education
board, where as they are actually issued by one independent authority.
In your application you will be asked to give some basic details,
as of your permanent address, where you are intending to study and
what degree course you will be taking. There is a basic rate that
is available to every applicant, however the amount that you receive
can increase depending on certain factors. If the total income of
your household is below a certain level you will usually be entitled
to more money in your loan. There are varying thresholds, which
mean you have access to more money in your loan, and therefore as
part of your application you will be required to provide evidence
of the total annual income of your parents or guardians.
Where you are studying can also have an effect on your loan amount.
Students intending to study in London will be eligible for a larger
loan amount, since it is deemed that studying in this area of the
country is considerably more expensive, and so the loan amount is
increased relative to this. Once your application is processed,
your loan amount will be issued to the student in three instalments
throughout the year, usually at the beginning of each semester.
A recent change to the student loans process is that you are able
to follow the progress of your application online, with an individual
online account, with access to all your details and how your application
is developing.
Your student loan will of course have to be repaid at some point,
yet this should not discourage people from following courses of
higher education. The loan is only repaid once the student has graduated
and is earning more than £15,000 per year. Moreover, the repayments
are divided into very manageable amounts, meaning that the cost
of your degree is spread out in a much more convenient manner.
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