The student's view: The challenges of paying for Uni

Ben Tyson, a current undergraduate at the University of Exeter, discusses the options for funding a degree.

With the release of A Level results, thousands of young people across the UK will find out whether they have got a place at university. The issue of funding higher education has never been more relevant, as those who miss out on university places this year are set to be the first year-group to potentially face the £9,000 tuition fees in the 2012/13 academic year. What options then are there for students, and their families, in fronting the cost of education?

Student Loans are the main help provided by the government, to those requiring financial assistance for their degrees. I receive both a tuition fee loan, and a maintenance loan; the former is paid straight to the university and covers the cost of my studies, whilst the latter I receive to cover the cost of living. However, with inflation forcing living costs up, and local councils becoming increasingly hostile to cheaper, mass student accommodation, costs have outgrown what a maintenance loan can cover: other income is necessary.

The simplest of answers is for the student themselves to show some self-sufficiency and get a part-time job. I found that through a couple of shifts a week in a shop, or a pub, around £500 could be added to my budget each term. Though Oxford and Cambridge forbid their students from employment during term-time, extended holidays provide equal opportunity to raise the extra funds needed.

Increasingly becoming an option is that of corporate sponsorship through university, in exchange for work in holidays and gap-years. Some of the best schemes, such as Deloitte's scholar scheme, target school leavers with the most potential and offer contracts that can hugely reduce the cost of one's degree. However, competition is extremely high (with tens of thousands applying for hundreds of places), and it is still unclear whether these schemes will increase funding when tuition fees increase next year.

Inevitably, all students will look to their parents and families for some financial contribution as well, ranging from covering all costs of their time at university, to helping out with living costs, or costs of study materials. Whereas in the US, starting a "college fund" at the birth of your child is a widespread practice, there is little such culture in the UK, though initiatives like Child Trust Funds have encouraged a certain level of forward planning.

Yet the real challenge in funding a university degree is less about the short-term raising of money, but more the knowledge of what the debts you are likely to amass will mean for you in the long term. With no compulsory financial education in schools and colleges in the UK, students are signing up to higher education without an understanding of the debt they are taking on. I could not honestly say that I had really considered the costs and benefits of higher education until I had actually started my degree.

What is required is education and encouragement of forward-planning to tackle the inevitable financial difficulty a degree will put you in. And whilst the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has recently predicted that within two years universities will have to reduce tuition fees, the issue of financing higher education is not set to become any less contested.

 For advice on how to prepare financially for your child's higher education, see Joanna Faith's article on How to save for University fees