Financial Aid
This section of the website brings together the information you need on what it will cost to be a student, the things you will need to do to make sure everything is sorted out on the financial front before you arrive at St Catherine’s/Oxford and the systems that the College and University have in place to help you out in case of financial difficulty. There are also some helpful tips on managing your money whilst you here.
1 FEES AND CHARGES
1.1 Fees
Oxford University charges college fees in addition to University tuition fees. The most up-to-date information on University tuition fees can be found at the University’s website at:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/feesandfunding/fees/information/universityrates/new%20fee%20rates/ – for prospective students.
As for most universities, the annual tuition fee at Oxford in 2011 will be £3,375. For UK and EU students, the college tuition fee will be paid, in most instances, by the government. It is no longer necessary for you to pay your tuition fee 'up front' unless you wish to do so. You can choose to defer payment until after you graduate, by taking out a loan with the Student Loan Company, which will pay the tuition fee direct to the University on your behalf. You do not start repaying the loan until after you graduate and only then when you are earning more than £15,000 per year.
In order to apply for the loan for fees and, if you are a UK student, to find out whether you are entitled to other benefits such as the Higher Education grant or the means-tested element of the Student Loan, you must apply through your LEA or similar body. The place to apply and to request more information about support is:
If you live in England or Wales
If you live in Scotland
The Student Awards Agency for Scotland, Gyleview House, 3 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh EH12 9HH.
www.student-support-saas.gov.uk/
If you live in Northern Ireland
The appropriate Education and Library Board
If you are from another EU member state
Go to:
Forms and Guides for EU Students
and follow the links relevant to you.
Also see downloadable information/booklets available from this site - in particular, A guide to financial support for higher education students in 2011/12.
1.2 Charges
Charges, or more fully Domestic Charges, are what are due to the College for residential and other services.
A table of charges is available here.
If you live in College, the College will supply a mattress, mattress cover, duvet, pillows, duvet covers, sheets and pillowslips. All students are required to provide their own towels. There is a self-service launderette in the College, and ironing facilities are also available.
All students joining the College are also invited to pay the subscription of £10.00 for the future receipt of the annual College magazine, the St Catherine's Year, and £18.00 per year for the Junior Common Room Overseas Scholarship.
College Battels: Students are personally responsible for the payment of tuition fees, charges for rooms and other services. Fees and charges are reviewed each year in June. Students are billed (via College battels) for these fees and charges at the beginning of term and are payable by the Friday of First week. Failure to pay on time, without having made alternative arrangements for payment with the College Accountant, will result in the automatic application of a compound interest surcharge of 2% of the sum outstanding on the Saturday after the payment date and monthly thereafter.
Payment methods: (1) Cheque payable to ‘St Catherine’s College, Oxford’. (2) Debit card payment in the Accounts Office. (3) Bank transfer, please contact Jane Holmes(email: jane.holmes@stcatz.ox.ac.uk) for information. (4) Via U-Pay (see separate section).
Review of charges: All charges are reviewed each year under a model discussed with representatives of the student Common Rooms.
The model includes provision for the targeted support of students whose household income is such that they receive some assistance with the payment of tuition fees.
Bank accounts: It is essential that you open a student bank account when you arrive in Oxford. You will find that banks require several types of documentary evidence proving your identity and your correspondence address before and after admission to the College, and confirming your status as a student. Please ensure that you bring with you to Oxford a copy of your offer letter, and any correspondence from the College that confirms your student status.
Please contact the College if you are unsure about anything. Points of contact for financial matters are either the College Accountant, Mrs Carey Forster (01865 271802), or one of her assistants, Mrs Jane Holmes (01865 271747), or Mrs Cathy Steiner (01865 281566), who deal with battels and fee matters respectively.
2 BEFORE STARTING
It is important to ensure that you take all the necessary steps well before the start of the academic year in order to secure funding for your studies. Applying for financial aid requires time and attention – the earlier you start the more confident you can be that everything will be sorted out when you come to Oxford.
Copies of the University's latest finance guide for undergraduates at Oxford (entry in 2011) is available on request from the College's Admissions Office (email admissions@stcatz.ox.ac.uk). The guide is also available online here (please click link in right hand menu).
Be sure to start this task in good time, and that way you will not be trying to complete forms and contact Stduent Finance when you start in Michaelmas Term. It will also ensure that you have the funds you need.
All UK undergraduate students, regardless of their income, will be entitled to take out subsidised student loans to help with costs For further information see the University link on financial advice
financial advice for INCOMING STUDENTS
Undergraduate students from lower income households in England may be eligible for the government-funded Maintenance Grant. You should apply through Student Finance and the grant is means-tested (using residual household income).
The Student Finance Direct website provides answers to FAQs regarding the costs of going to university, and also includes a calculator to provide you with an estimate of the financial support you might receive at
http://www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk
If you are a prospective undergraduate student from the EU you should seek the advice of the Department for Education and Skills - use the website details provided above.
If you are a prospective undergraduate or graduate student from outside the European Union you will be asked to complete the College’s financial guarantee, which is forwarded to you once an offer is made. It is sensible to ensure that the guarantee is completed in good time to ensure that you do not encounter any difficulties travelling to the UK for your studies. A sample copy of the form used in this procedure is available here (in pdf)(in Word). The College takes the financial guarantee procedure seriously.
3 MANAGING YOUR FINANCES
It is very important that throughout your time at University that you manage your finances carefully. The following notes are intended to help you do this. They also outline the arrangements that are in place to help if you experience unexpected financial difficulties.
You should have your basic funding provision in place at the beginning of each term and the income you receive will in all probability remain the very much same throughout your time at Oxford. This means that it should be relatively straightforward to manage your resources effectively.
University can lead to a high degree of impulsive spending. With so much to do and the independent learning afforded through university, it often seems that the best thing to do on a night off is to go out and enjoy yourself. This means it is very easy to spend money. It will be up to you to keep your finances under control.
Are you in control of your finances?
Do you know what your current balance is or do you wait until your bank sends you a statement and hope for the best? Hoping for the best is not going to be good enough – you need to keep careful records.
Are you always confident that you will be able to withdraw money when you want to? Here again, having records will help.
Do you find you are using 'cash-back' as a way of bridging the gap between one payment into your account and another?
Do you use a credit card when you are short of money because you think you will have more next month?
The only way you can be in control of your money is if you are aware of how much you have and how you are spending it. Although this may seem tedious, by doing this you can avoid the worry of not knowing, and the anxiety that comes when you run out.
Good ways to manage your money:
1. Pay all bills at the start of term. Pay your battels, clear any credit card bills, insurance etc. These should always be priority because they do not go away. Credit card interest is a drain on your current resources.
2. If you 'live out', work out how much you will need for essential bills until your next termly instalment and put that much aside in a savings account attached to your current account. This way, you can avoid spending it.
3. Work out how much money is remaining and divide it between the weeks you will need money before the next income.
4. If you receive funds monthly, set up all your bills to be paid by standing order. This should include your credit card (if you have one), your mobile phone, and any other costs. Calculate how much remains for each month.
5. Once you know how much disposable income you have, find a method that suits you best to ensure that you do not overspend.
Methods might include:
Write every withdrawal down, either on an Excel spreadsheet, or in a notebook. Always get receipts when you withdraw money or put something on your card (even if it is a small amount). This will allow you to ensure that you do not overspend.
If you do not like to write everything down, get into a habit of asking to see your balance when you withdraw money. Most students avoid this question because when you are withdrawing money for a night out, you do not want to know how little you have to spend. This is avoiding the problem, and you will only worry about it anyway. Check as a matter of course, and then you will be in control.
If either of these options prove tricky, withdraw the amount of money you are able to spend at the beginning of a week. Then, put all cards away until you can make the next withdrawal. In this way, you can keep complete control over your finances and ensure that you know what is happening.
Be realistic about your expenditure. If you smoke, then budget for cigarettes and accept that this will mean that you cannot spend money on other things. Don't justify spending more money because you have had a good/bad/indifferent tutorial. Be honest with yourself about what you are spending and why you are spending it.
Other tips:
Do not get a credit card or store card. Though your bank may understand about you overdrawing on your account, failure to pay credit/store card bills of this sort will affect your credit rating and may have an impact on you in the future.
A student loan is a highly controlled, sensible form of debt. Do not think that borrowing an extra £1000 from private resources does not matter because you are borrowing from SLC. Private loans have a far more rigorous repayment method that is not income related. This is the type of debt that will be difficult to control once you graduate.
If you do not have a regular income, then switch your mobile phone to a Pay as You Go contract. This way, if you cannot afford it, you will not buy it. Let others phone you.
Don't spend large sums in bookshops on CDs and convince yourself that it was for your degree.
Don't agree to eat out with friends if you cannot afford it. Bills are customarily split on these occasions, however frugal you have been.
If you drink, drink in the college bar. This does not necessarily have to be followed by a night out.
Never lend money to someone else. It causes resentment and awkwardness and an Oxford college is too small for that sort of problem.
Get a vacation job. Visit the Careers Service and find well-paid employment in the long summer vacation. This makes a huge difference to your term time fun and earns you valuable CV points. There may also be jobs being advertised with the College connected with the conference business (vacation time) or working in Hall (term). Keep a look out for emails advertising job opportunities.
4 Dealing with the Unexpected
If financial crises take place – and they may do even if you have been very careful with managing your money - there are schemes in place to help you.
Oxford Opportunity Bursaries
The most up-to-date information on this Bursary scheme is posted at
http://www.ox.ac.uk/feesandfunding/ugcurrent/university/oob/
You do not have to complete a separate application form for the bursary. The University will receive the financial assessment of your household income made by Student Finance and will use this to assess your entitlement to a bursary. If your assessment changes, so will your entitlement to the bursary. This will normally be reviewed annually. If you are not eligible for a bursary when you start your course, but your family income falls subsequently, you can still receive an award in later years.
St Catherine’s College Student Support Scheme
The funds available under this scheme are open to all students – undergraduate/graduate, UK, EU and non-EU. The criteria for consideration are that:
A) if a financial guarantee has been completed the need has arisen because of circumstances which were unforeseen on commencing studies
B) if a student is eligible for public funds in support of his/her studies those funds have been applied for.
A form is available by clicking at this link.
Graduate Academic Absence Scheme
The College will consider applications for a rebate of the nightly charge for graduates resident in College for periods spent attending conferences or on field research during the Christmas and Easter vacations.
A form can be obtained here.
It should be returned to bursar@stcatz.ox.ac.uk
Access to Learning Fund
Applications to the Access to Learning Fund, which is now administered by the University and not the College, may be made by 'Home' students. The Fund provides emergency support to students facing financial difficulties, and priority is given to those most in need.
Access to Learning Funds may be granted to undergraduates and postgraduates, both full-time and part-time, who are either (i) ‘home’ students who, at the start of their course, have been ordinarily resident in the UK for the three years preceding that date; or (ii) refugees, their spouses/civil partners, children or step-children; or (iii) persons granted exceptional leave to enter or remain or indefinite leave to remain (ELE/ELR), or Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave; (iv) nationals of the European Economic Area (EEA) employed in the UK, their spouses, and children, provided certain other conditions are met; or (v) EU nationals who lived in the UK and Ireland for the three year period before the start of their course.
Before applying for a grant full-time undergraduate students must have taken out a student loan, if eligible, and applied for the full amount to which they are entitled.
Forms are available from the General Office.
University Hardships Funds
Funds are provided by the University to help all students who experience unexpected cases of hardship. Students must demonstrate that something that they did not, nor could not, foresee has occurred which has meant that their original budget as per their financial guarantee is no longer valid. They must also demonstrate that they have insufficient funds to cope with the unexpected change. Certain scenarios are not considered ‘unforeseen’. For example, fluctuations in the exchange rate are not regarded as ‘unforeseen circumstances’.
The University will expect students to have taken out such loans as they may be eligible to as well as having applied to the College and Access to Learning funds – again, if they are eligible.
Forms are available from the General Office.
