My daughter has her heart set on Uni next year which is Awesome! Very happy for her.
Problem is the most local uni doesn’t provide the course she desperately wants to do so she’d have to live on or near campus.
My husband and I can’t afford to pay for accommodation like that and I was wondering what options we have for this?
We will have an income of about $130k between us, with other children and a Sydney mortgage.
How do other people help their children succeed and continue further education in this situation?
9 Replies
Sadly you just have to find the money. Youth Allowance is income tested using parents income for the previous financial year so in your case this current financial year and the cutoff is around $80k for dependant students living away from home. My niece got nothing because he parents earnt over $120k. She had to find a job to work around uni and after her first year she dropped out because the stress of study & working was too much for her.
2 of my kids are off to uni next year, one interstate and the other 500kms away. The plan is for them to board in a share house close to uni, there should be quite a few of them near the uni she wants to go to, have a search for shared accommodation in the same suburb to get an idea of prices. I don't think she will be eligible for youth allowance on that wage which really sucks unless you sign paperwork to say you don't support her in anyway. I have to get my ex to do this as he earns too much for them to claim youth allowance but when they turn 18 he will not be supporting them financially, so their eligibility will be based off my income alone which is low. They make it very hard for middle income earners to send their kids to uni. She can also apply for a relocation grant which is 4k for the first year
Make her a townie (share house close by). Much better for studying anyway and she'll still make heaps of friends
She won’t get anything from Centrelink
Have to get a job
She will have to get a job and probably house share. She won’t be eligible for CL due to your income :(
I’m assuming you live rural so why not get rid of the Sydney mortgage and buy where you are to reduce the mortgage? This may fee up some cash.
I think she lives in Sydney but the course the daughter wants is rural.
She needs to get a job this year, so it’s easier for her to get a job when she moves.
Apply for scholarships as soon as they open, check government ones, depending on what she wants to study there is some that pay for the whole course and help out financially, such as certain degree for high school teaching. Most text books are available free online, so don’t rush into buying them until she starts. Consider 3 units for first semester so she is not too pressured while she settles in.
This is what life is like, everyone has to step out of the family home at some stage. Let her do what she wants to do, support her in anywhich way you can, but the best thing is start preparing now, she could have a job and money saved by the time she leaves.
Definately share accommodation with other students , you can look for places through gumtree or even Facebook or the uni might have a listing that the other students advertise on or if she has friends going to the same uni even better .
Definately talk to centrelink about whether she’s eligible for
Any kind of help and the. Definately a part time job of her own! Uni is a big wake up call on the independence but it makes kids grow in all kinds of ways ! I moved 2 hours away to go to uni and was only eligible for aus study and a small amount of rent assistance ! I worked at a bar at night and my
House mates worked at a cafes and the supermarket , we did not earn a lot but we lived cheaply and got through it together ! My parents helped when they could but mostly I made my own way !
The hardest part is getting her started but if you can help get her there and her head in the right mind frame she will be great