How to Finance your studies

Table of Contents

1. What should I consider about university financing?

2. The financing options available to university students

2.1 Student loans – study now, pay later

2.2 Scholarships and grants – apply if you’re eligible!

2.3 Are you eligible for a university grant?

2.4 Part-time or even summer holiday employment

2.5 Can Your Family Help With The Cost Of Education?

2.6 Payment by employer or a sponsor

3. Summary

Financing further education is expensive: It’s likely the most costly investment you’ll make in your life, after buying a home. The difference is that when you buy property there’s a fairly standardized process of getting a mortgage and paying it every month over a set amount of years. You’ll always have the option to rent it or sell the property (hopefully at a profit!) whereas the path to financing your education is not always clear.

With the cost of living on the rise, students are finding themselves conflicted: Do they just try to find a job working full-time rather than incur the debt associated with further education, or do they try to study while juggling a part-time working role?

When calculating the cost of your education, don’t just factor in tuition fees. There’s food and rent to consider as well as money for ways to decompress from your studies such as a gym membership.

The total cost of your education varies wildly, depending on which country your dream school is in and what level you would like to study to. But on average students in the UK, Europe and the US leave university with an average of EUR 30K in student debt. Some take out several student loans and end up as much as EUR 100K in debt.

Therefore it’s important to plan ahead and pick a university you can afford that’s located in a city that’s got affordable student accommodation. Visiting your short-list of dream schools on their open days, touring the campus and the local area, talking to current students and getting a feel for the cost of living is a really wise idea.

Here’s a couple of examples of reputable student loan providers. 

1. Prodigy Finance offers loans to Master’s students with a list of 850 schools in 18 countries. Loans start at 9.54 APR and they offer flexible repayment terms over 7 to 20 years. Start paying six months after classes end. Pay early to save on interest, with no penalties. There’s no need for a co-signer or collateral.
2. Habacus is an interesting and new option for student loans and believe in giving highly motivated students access to sustainable loans. Using an innovative, proprietary platform, they monitor and analyze data on students’ performance first. They track students’ progress in order to facilitate their access to sustainable loans, supporting their commitment by providing banks with useful information to help them offer loans designed for students, with customized repayment plans.
3. Lendwise provides a loan specifically designed for education, with reasonable interest rates, and offers young graduates the chance to pursue further education without being saddled with unfair loan conditions.
4. Brain Capital offers an inclusive opportunity for individuals to pursue their education, irrespective of their financial means. The repayment system also empowers a new wave of students to complete their studies without the weight of tuition fees. The approach follows a combination of calculations, where individuals with higher incomes contribute in solidarity to support those with lower incomes, similar to how the public health insurance system operates.
5. Juno Loans utilizes the collective bargaining power of a group to negotiate with lenders in order to secure the most favorable interest rates for you. It’s similar to obtaining student loans with a discount based on the volume of borrowers.

Here’s where you can really get some decent financial aid as many brands, charities and trusts offer scholarships to certain students, based on a variety of criteria, but especially highly gifted students with lots of potential. 

If you’re not sure how to really stand out when it comes to being granted a scholarship, 700+Club can help. A high score on your entrance exams is the smart way to get into your dream school and we have a 98% success rate – Our students get into top universities worldwide. 

As well as academic brilliance, other criteria to apply for a scholarship might include: 

• Financial need
• Disability
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Military affiliation
• Standardized test scores
• Grade point average

Sit down one evening and do a really thorough search for scholarships, changing the search terms you use and make a list of any you are eligible for. The application process varies and the deadlines differ, but if you get organised you’ll be able to apply in time.

Grants are based on financial need and can factor in where you live, your race, gender, sexual orientation, or if you have a disability. Just as scholarship deadlines vary, so do the applications for grants so it’s worth setting aside several hours to research grants which you might be eligible for.

One of the best things about university is they tend to take fairly long summer holiday breaks. This is a great chance to knuckle down and work hard and save some money for the academic year ahead. 

However, you do need to set aside time to rest and recuperate so consider a part-time job all year round. Since the pandemic, many companies are happy to hire remote workers and some universities have part-time jobs available on campus. This is where an in person visit on open day can help, you can hand in your resume to local recruitment agencies and other potential employers in the area to get ahead of the crowd. 

If you’re incredibly fortunate your family may have been setting aside money to pay for your education since you were born. If you do have a close relative who is wealthy it could be worth having an honest talk about your education and career plans and ask if they’d be willing to offer you an interest free loan to help you get ahead with your career. 

When many of our grandparents were teenagers they used to leave school early to work and support the family and university and higher education was only for the privileged few. 

You might even be one of the first people in your family to have even considered a Master’s or a Bachelors so if you feel able to, have a discussion about how much it will cost and the benefits it’ll give you in life. 

Some employers will pay for the studies of their employees. It is also possible in some cases to find a sponsor, who is ready to finance the education of the candidate on certain agreements. For example, shipping companies in the UK will hire cadets and highly educate them for a three-year term. The cadet walks away with a qualification in nautical engineering worth tens of thousands of pounds and the shipping company has an influx of inexpensive employees. 

A degree, plus a Master’s or an MBA is a worthy investment as it’ll help your career choices. You’ll get the edge when it comes to landing a role at a prestigious firm in highly competitive business sectors and it will increase your future earning capacity. 

You’ll also make friends with your fellow students who’ll become valuable contacts who can help you with your career further down the line. 

If you are feeling confused or conflicted about any aspect of your education, whether it’s how to finance or whether to take a GMAT or a GRE, 700+Club has a team of experts who have been in your position and are happy to help. 

Give us a call and we can help you work out a personalized and viable plan that works for you.