FAQ s Foundation Degree in Professional Golf PGA Training Programme Fees

Transcription

1 FAQ s Foundation Degree in Professional Golf PGA Training Programme Fees From September 2012 full-time undergraduate fees in England are 9,000 per year (assuming provisions for bursaries are in place). Normally, part-time university student fees are 6,750 per year. The PGA and the University of Birmingham have ensured that fees have been kept as low as possible, whilst maintaining the highest level of academic, practical teaching and learning materials on the programme. 1. How much are the fees going to be? The tuition fees for the PGA Training Programme will be 4,000* per academic year for UK/EU entrants and 5,000* for students from the rest of the world. Please note, overseas applicants are defined as Non-EU citizens and British Nationals working outside the EU for the past three years) *Fees are subject to inflationary increase in subsequent years in line with UK government policy 2. How can I pay for my tuition fees? If you are studying for your first higher education course, you do not have to pay for your tuition fees upfront, you can apply for a government loan via the relevant Student Loans Company (SLC), if you are English and Non-UK EU Student**. This loan is repaid later, once you have started to work (see point 5). You will be able to download these forms from website stated below under Part-time Courses. 3. Access to Funding for English and Non-UK EU students: Students commencing the Foundation Degree (FdSc) in Professional Golf from September 1, 2012 have access to a non-means tested Tuition Fee Loan. Students who have not already applied can do so here: Part-time loan application forms will be available from April onwards. A new feature allows students to check eligibility for a tuition fee loan via **Please note, as the FdSc in Professional Golf is classed by Student Finance England as a part-time distance learning programme, you must also be resident in England for the duration of the course to qualify for financial support (including EU support).

2 4. Access to Funding for Welsh students: For 2013/14 students from Wales may be entitled to the following support, dependent on their household income: A non-repayable Fee Grant (linked to intensity of the programme and paid direct to the University); A non-repayable Course Grant (to cover the cost of books, travel and other courserelated expenses). A paper application (PTG1) needs to be returned to Student Finance Wales (SFW) once available. From 2014/15 a part-time loan system will be introduced by the Welsh Assembly. 5. Access to Funding for Northern Irish students: There are no plans to introduce any part-time loans in Northern Ireland. Students domiciled in Northern Ireland may be entitled to the following support, dependent on their household income: A non-repayable Fee Grant (linked to intensity of the programme and paid direct to the University); A non-repayable Course Grant (to cover the cost of books, travel and other courserelated expenses). A paper application (PTG1) needs to be returned to the student s Education and Library Board (ELB) once available. 6. Access to Funding for Scottish students: There are no plans to introduce any part-time loans. Unfortunately, financial support is not available to part-time Scottish students who choose to study outside Scotland. 7. Professional and Career Development Loans Non-English, UK resident students may wish to consider a Professional and Career Development Loan as an alternative funding option. If you decide to apply for this loan please quote the University of Birmingham Learner Provider Number (8802).

3 8. Ordinary Residence in England? If you are Scottish, Northern Irish or Welsh but now live in England, e.g. Scottish living in England, you may qualify for a Student Loan if throughout the three years prior to the start of your academic programme, apart from temporary or occasional absences (e.g. holidays), you have chosen England as your normal and settled place of residence. This does not include students boarding at an educational institution. Also, if you are English and now live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you will not qualify for a loan if you have lived there for more than three years. If you have moved between the countries listed above within the last three years then you do not meet the above residency criteria and will not qualify for support. Overseas applicants and those applicants who have already completed a higher education course i.e. BA/BSc will not be eligible to apply for a government student loan/grant. You will have to pay by the other options, listed below. 9. Other payment methods The University of Birmingham provides a range of other payment options to suit everyone, but an indication of how you intend to pay your tuition fees must be made upon application. These other options are as follows: Full payment (upfront) Instalment plan Online using a debit or credit card Cheque or bankers draft Direct bank transfer Online using a debit or credit card Direct debit payment for each term To apply log-on to: Are tuition loans from the government means tested? The loans available for your tuition fees from the SLC are not dependent upon your household income. You can borrow the full cost of the tuition fee that is paid directly to the University of Birmingham.

4 11. Can I apply for a living expenses (maintenance) loan in addition to the tuition fees? The simple answer is no. As a part-time student these loans are not available to you. However, as a PGA Assistant you will be required to work a minimum of 30 hours per week earning at least minimum wage, whilst being supervised by a GB & Ireland PGA Member; so you will be earning an income whilst studying. 12. How is the government loan repaid? Part-time students start making repayments in the April after graduation or they leave the course, whichever comes first; but only once they earn more than 21,000 a year. If their income falls below 21,000 a year, repayments stop. The earliest repayments will commence is April Unlike a normal bank loan, where you have to arrange a monthly payment, with student loans if you are employed and pay tax through PAYE, your repayments will be deducted automatically each month from your salary by your employer, in the same way that tax is deducted. If you are paying tax by using self-assessment (i.e. completing a tax return as a self-employed individual), other arrangements are in place. 13. How much will I have to pay back once I start to earn 21,000? Once you are earning more than 21,000 per year, you will pay back 9% per annum of your income above 21,000. So if you earn 22,000; that s 1,000 above the threshold, so you will pay back 90 of the loan in the year. The amount you pay back each year is based on what you earn, not how much you have borrowed in the first place. However, if you borrow more it may mean that you repay more in total over a longer period of time. Salary 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 Monthly repayment Yearly repayment ,260 If you have not paid off your loan after 30 years all the outstanding balance will be written off.

5 14. Is interest charged on the loan? Yes. You will start to pay interest on the loan as soon as it is paid out, at the rate of inflation* plus 3% a year. How much interest you pay once you have graduated will depend upon how much you earn at the time, as follows: Salary Interest rate % less than 21,000 21,000 to 41,000 Above 41,000 Inflation rate Inflation rate plus up to 3% Inflation rate plus 3% Interest is added to what you owe and does not have to be paid back in addition to the 9% identified above. However, it may require the loan to be paid off over a longer period of time, paying more overall. (*inflation is a measure of how prices change over time. Hence if inflation is 3% then an item costing 100 today will cost 103 in a year s time.) 15. What if I don t get a job or I never earn 21,000? Regardless of what you have borrowed and repaid, the loan is written off after 30 years e.g. ignoring interest, if you borrow 12,000 and after 30 years have only repaid say 10,000, the balance of 2,000 is written off. If at any time you lose your job, become ill and are unable to work, or just decide to take a career break, and your income falls below 21,000, then the repayments simply stop. Once you are earning above 21,000 again, the repayments recommence. 16. Will having a student loan for 30 years affect my ability to obtain another loan or mortgage in the future? Unlike other loans, student loans will not appear on your credit file, so lenders won t know it exists unless they ask. If they do ask then you will be required to tell them, but due to the method by which it s repaid it is unlikely to have a significant impact on your ability to borrow.

6 The Council for Mortgage Lenders said a student loan is very unlikely to impact materially on an individual s ability to get a mortgage, but the amount of mortgage available may depend on the net income. Once you are earning a sufficient salary to be making repayments on the student loan, then you ll obviously have slightly less net income than if you didn t have the loan, but given the 9% (above 21,000) repayment rule this should only have a minor impact on your ability to obtain a mortgage. It is also important to know that the loan does not pass onto your beneficiaries should you die before you are able to clear the debt or the 30 years passes. The loan is written off in full. 17. If I have the money now should I pay upfront rather than taking out a loan? If you, your parents or your employer decide to pay your tuition fees upfront without taking out a student loan, you should consider the following issues: Do not borrow money elsewhere to cover the cost of university fees; as student loans are a very cheap long-term form of borrowing. A commercial loan will cost significantly more and will have to be paid irrelevant of your income levels; Student loans only have to be repaid when you start to earn in excess of 21,000 per year, and only at 9% of the amount above the threshold (as detailed in point 6); Many graduates will never pay back the loan in full over the 30 years, and after that time the loan is written off. Even if you have savings to cover the cost you may never have had to pay the full amount. However, this is an important and complex decision so you may wish to take independent financial advice before deciding. Please note; if you do not wish to follow the Student Government Loan system or you are not eligible for it, you will have to pay using the other options under point 2.