Estimate of savings required to send children through university

C

Ceist Beag

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I saw in a recent Red C survey that parents expect the annual cost of sending children through university is €5K if living at home or €10K if renting.
Do AAMers think this is a reasonable estimate of the cost? I'm asking with a view towards how much we need to be saving in order to be able to send our kids through uni. I know things can change between now and then (roughly 10 years from now) such as fees increasing and so on but I'd be interested to hear how much other parents are budgeting for.
 
It depends if the student is working or not.

Personally, I think those numbers are light in any event.
 
My friend has 3 kids in college in Dublin at the same time.

So very costly. 9k in fees, to start with.

Total is 41-42k pa, that includes fees, rent in three separate places, and 100 each pw spending money.
 
I guess depends on grants, location, etc. I have four at secondary school. As things stand I expect to qualify for a SUSI grant and 4 of 7 universities are handy enough from where we live. I don't expect that all four will go to university but that those who do will likely continue to live at home. In the event that some go further afield I'll do some financial acrobatics and make it so. I'm feeding/clothing them and paying for books etc. at present so nothing much extra to budget for there. Essentially I have budgeted zero for university.
 
Rent outside Dublin should be less than €5k, in Dublin perhaps more.

€100 pw pocket money on top of rent seems generous to me. A part time job to top up the pocket money would do no harm, especially in first year.

I am budgeting €10k per year including rent, with the hope that there will be some saving from the ongoing household budget.
 
Thanks folks. The big concern for me is the fees - I can see these rising quite steeply in the future. Currently I'm budgeting 10K per year but I might revise this upwards given the uncertainty around fees. I do anticipate they will need to earn their own pocket money through part time work so my budget is for the fees, rent and other associated costs of attending uni.
 
At present you can get some tax relief on fees if you're paying more than €3k (If you have 2 students at the same time for example, or if paying higher fees for a repeat year or change of course)
 
POC said:
At present you can get some tax relief on fees if you're paying more than €3k (If you have 2 students at the same time for example, or if paying higher fees for a repeat year or change of course)
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Yes, but only at the 20% rate.
 
Yes I know it's only 20%, and it doesn't apply to the first 3k either. But for someone paying 9k for 3 students - they can get back 20% of 6k. Every little helps!
 
We have just finished putting 3 through 3rd level. The estimate of €9k is close. €3k fees, rent or on campus approx. €4-5k. €60 pw is ample for food. Factor in bus/train home plus occasional internet/electric/gas etc. Glad to be through it. At one time, we had 3 in college simultaneously. That was a tough year!
 
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