New figures reveal how much money students at each university could save staying with mum and dad.
New research has revealed students at the University of Glasgow could have saved over £8,000 staying at home this academic year, rather than living on campus.
The figures revealed by Studee, looked into how much money students could have saved staying with parents and guardians this year as most classes take place online, rather than in person.
The data shows that students at Glasgow could have saved a total of £8,148, had they stayed at home since September, and remained there for the following 12 months, saving £679 per month.
These figures take into account the average rent of students at Glasgow, which they say is £444 monthly, as well as transport costs at £52 per month, utility bills at £52 per month, £16 for insurance monthly and £110 on monthly groceries.
The monthly costs at Glasgow are above the national average in Scotland which is £648 monthly, as well as higher than the rest of the city’s universities such as Strathclyde (£647 monthly), Glasgow Caledonian (£556) and University of the West of Scotland’s Paisley campus (£595) where students at these institutions could have saved the following per month had they remained at home.
Glasgow students, however, have it easier than students at Edinburgh and St Andrews, who could have saved £724 and £704 a month respectively staying at home than living on campus.
Laura Rettie, vice president of global communications at education consultancy at Studee, commented on the figures:
“Students have had an incredibly difficult year, and it’s easy to understand why they feel so aggrieved – they’ve been told to come to campus, only to be kept in quarantine and taught online. They could have easily studied at home without spending additional money on top of tuition fees to live close to or on campus.
“It will be interesting to see how many students actually decide to return to campus rather than staying at home after Christmas – I wouldn’t blame them if they opted for the cheaper option of staying with Mum and Dad. I can’t help but feel really sad for the students of 2020 – they’ve been dealt a really bad hand. It’s crucial universities take this additional cost for students into account when the decision is made to move to fully online lectures. Transparency is vital and decisions need to be communicated early to leave time for students to make arrangements. It’s not fair to leave things to the last minute. Equally, this is a really difficult time for universities who rely on the income from students to stay afloat and the balancing act is becoming increasingly precarious.”
