Home vs. overseas tuition, do i understand this correctly?

does anyone else not find it a bit weird that you can get ILR after two years in the country, but you can't get resident fees until you have been here for three years? i just find it a stupid - if you are here for two years, pay more ridiculous visa fees, take the life in the uk test, and get ILR, then you still can't attend uni as a resident for another year?

maybe im just a bit peeved that it means i have to wait that much longer to finish my degree.....one day.

You need to broaden your view a bit maybe.  Many people have to wait 5, 10 or even 14 years before they can apply for ILR, and the 3 year Ordinary Residence rule applies to everyone of any nationality, including UK nationals.  EU nationals' 3 years' Ordinary Residence can be in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the Overseas Territories, but eligiblility through that route gives no entitlement to student financial support except for the fee loan.

And don't forget you will also normally pay "home" fees for courses below degree level if you have been living in England for 3 years (even if you are not settled), or you are "recently settled", or you have been living in England as the spouse or civil partner of someone settled here.

You need to broaden your view a bit maybe.  Many people have to wait 5, 10 or even 14 years before they can apply for ILR, and the 3 year Ordinary Residence rule applies to everyone of any nationality, including UK nationals.  EU nationals' 3 years' Ordinary Residence can be in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the Overseas Territories, but eligiblility through that route gives no entitlement to student financial support except for the fee loan.

And don't forget you will also normally pay "home" fees for courses below degree level if you have been living in England for 3 years (even if you are not settled), or you are "recently settled", or you have been living in England as the spouse or civil partner of someone settled here.

Hi!   I would really like to go back to school once I arrive in the UK.  I arrive in September, and would like to go back to school in either Spring 08 or Fall 08.   From the above, and from the link to UKCOSA guidance, it seems that I would be eligible for home fees.  I am the wife of a EEA worker (French citizen), and have resided in the EU for the last five years.  Is this right?  I'm also intrigued by why this route "gives no entitlement to student financial support except for the fee loan."  Do you know if that include US financial aid (student loans) at participating institutions?  Thanks!

Hi!   I would really like to go back to school once I arrive in the UK.  I arrive in September, and would like to go back to school in either Spring 08 or Fall 08.   From the above, and from the link to UKCOSA guidance, it seems that I would be eligible for home fees.  I am the wife of a EEA worker (French citizen), and have resided in the EU for the last five years.  Is this right?  I'm also intrigued by why this route "gives no entitlement to student financial support except for the fee loan."  Do you know if that include US financial aid (student loans) at participating institutions?  Thanks!

It's hard to do assessments without knowing the full story, so I recommend self-assessment using the UKCOSA guidance notes.

By "entitlement to student financial support" I meant UK government student financial support (i.e. Tuition Fee Loan + Maintenance Grant + Maintenance Loan).

Thank you for clearing that up!

Would anyone with experience in dealing with overseas fees/loans vs. the home fees/loans recommend waiting 3 years for schooling or is 33,000 pounds something that can be paid off (ie, im not still paying on it in my 40s and 50s.)

I was a home (British) undergrad student before the top-up fees were introduced - my fees were only £1,100 per year, which my parents paid - but I had to take out a student loan each year for accomodation costs. My student loan debt is now over £15,000 and since I won't be able to start paying it off for another 4 or 5 years, it will probably have increased to more than £17,000 by then due to interest.

Unfortunately, unless I suddenly come into a lot of money or I get a really well-paid job, I am expecting to still be paying off that £17,000 in 20 years time (according to an online loan repayment calculator, if my graduate starting salary is £25,000, it should take me 264 months to pay back the loan - that's 22 years. If I earn £30,000 a year, I should take me 14 years rather than 22). Unfortunately, it's really just going to be another monthly expense, like taxes, that I won't see and I'm going to have to live with for the next couple of decades.

Hi!   I would really like to go back to school once I arrive in the UK.  I arrive in September, and would like to go back to school in either Spring 08 or Fall 08.   From the above, and from the link to UKCOSA guidance, it seems that I would be eligible for home fees.  I am the wife of a EEA worker (French citizen), and have resided in the EU for the last five years.  Is this right?  I'm also intrigued by why this route "gives no entitlement to student financial support except for the fee loan."  Do you know if that include US financial aid (student loans) at participating institutions?  Thanks!

I don't really get the fees thing and EU residence, for my situation anyway.

I was an EU resident with my British spouse from 2000 - 2001 (I was on WHM from 1999 - 2000). UK spousal visa 2001 - 2002. ILR 2002 - 2004. Naturalised 2004. When I had a fees assessment, my EU residency didn't count.

I was told in writing I would be eligible for home fees in September 2004. I went part time from 2003 - 2005. First year with international student fees and second with home fees, based on initial letter.

Can anyone explain why my EU residency didn't count?  Ultimately, it doesn't matter, but I am just curious.

Assuming that you were living somewhere else in the EU, not in the UK, I think at that time, residence in the EEA was only relevant for non-UK EU nationals and their family members.  UK nationals and their dependants had to show residence in the UK and Islands.  I think that was it, but the rules change slightly very often, and it is hard to think back that far!