Trying to study while I'm here- the three year rule part 2

Hi everyone,
I've already posted on this question (as have others) but to recap- I'm
already in the UK on a student dependent visa- my non-British husband is studying for his PhD
which is supposed to be finished sometime in 2008.
I'm finishing up an American Masters in absentia and as I haven't been acclimating that well
to Britain and finding work (I'm trying to be a freelance writer and have a few very
sporadic research jobs) I'm kind of dying to continue with school and am thinking of
topics for a PhD in Literature or related areas. It's kind of depressing, as the schools here
in London have really fantastic programs and faculty, but I'm really not a stellar enough student
to get the one international scholarship per year, and it's hard to apply for international aid
when I'm already here. My husband would love
to finish his PhD more quickly and get a full-time job, which would give us better status but
I don't even know if I'd be considered a home student by then, even though I would have been
living (and rather sporadically working) here for three years by then.  I had thought I could
go part-time and pay part-time home fees, but I've been checking around and lots of schools
do have a separate part-time fee schedule for international students, which is weird since
internationals are supposed to go full-time. My husband has trouble understanding how
I can't find a fully funded program with a bursary, but that's because he's in computer
science and I'm looking in the crappily funded, overcompetitive world of humanities.

Any tips?

You're only considered for home fees under the three year rule if you've been residing in the UK for three years AND you have ILR- so if your husband got a work permit after he graduated then he'd have to be on that for four years, after which you both can apply for ILR~ only then would you qualify for home fees.

There are still plenty of universities that only have home fees for part-time degrees.  You might also want to check the minimum time to degree for part-time if that is a concern.  Most seem to require 5-6 years if you are part-time.  I just transferred to Oxford Brookes for my PhD.  I pay home fees, and must finish in 3-6 years, which suits me, as I am actually working on it full-time and want to finish in 3.  The Open University also lets you finish in less than 5 years.

Do you know of a particular school that charges home fees for part-time?
I'm in London and it seems I've called every school in the city without any good results.
The only thing that wouldn't be expensive would be a lesser degree, such as an evening
certificate at Birkbeck. I would be able to go part-time since our visa is through the end of
2008, which would give me 2 years to finish a Masters (though I would love to do a PhD).
I'm all over the place in subjects- looking at anthropology and English (which are what
my past degrees are in) or something more immediately practical, like library science.
My situation is I'm finishing an MFA in absentia and would love to keep going to school-
making only a little money is less of a problem than going neck deep into debt.

Do you know of a particular school that charges home fees for part-time?
I'm in London and it seems I've called every school in the city without any good results.

I'm at the Institute of Education, U of London and I pay home school part-time fees even though I've only been here 2.5 years.... But it's a pretty inappropriate school unless you want to work in schools as I found out too late.

argh!!!! i'm here on a work permit and on old immigration rules i would have had my ILR in sept 07.  so i could start school with home fees.  but now i need to be here for 5 instead of 4 years b/f i have ILR.  so i won't have an ILR until Sept 08.  how annoying!! vent over.

I thought you just need to have lived here for 3 years to get home fees.  No?  You need ILR as well?

Incidentally, I have told my university 3 times that I am a US citizen, but they still have me down as British.  So, it just goes to show that a lot depends on how on the ball the individuals working there are.  I'm thinking to switching to full-time and applying for research council funding if they are not going to fix my record! 

I thought you just need to have lived here for 3 years to get home fees.  No?  You need ILR as well?

Yes, you do (or a Brit/EU passport).