Problems Facing University Students

Financial Challenges Facing University Students FA120-Skills to observe Group Creative trouble solving assignment By Megan Sweeney (12522637) Anna Heffernan (12743239) And Ross Swords (12344681) account book Count ii thousand two hundred and eight. Contents page part 1 Summary Pages 3 and 4 element II expand of the scholars challenge Pages 4 and 5 Section III Findings Pages 5 and 6 Section IV Possible solutions and recommendations Page 6 Section V Recommendations Page 6 References Page 7 Section I Summary. Introduction later discussing our assignment as a group we recognised what problems and challenges whitethorn be relevant to university disciples. We felt the topic close relevant to ourselves as a group and the majority of university bookmans, was the fiscal challenges face up by university assimilators. For most students as they start university it is their first time living place from topographic point which cornerstone create problems for both the student and their families financially with both the high approach involved in move a student to university and the difficulties the student faces themselves in budgeting their each week allowance.Many students struggle to prioritise their notes correctly and often pass by more money on genialising weekly than on the essentials much(prenominal) as food, and often in that location is little or no money left to put towards books and curriculum based activities. For the purpose of this assignment and to t fitting service ourselves as students get out our money in a more frugal manner we cod looked the problems and solutions which occur in the everyday life of an Irish university student. Statement of the student challengeThe financial difficulties faced by a university student argon brought about by the high personify of tuition fees which are constantly increasing as a result of poor management by our previous politicss, the high cost of student accommodation for those student s who have to move away from home to attend university. Students living away from home also have to have a weekly allowance for essentials, heating plant and electricity bills, and college equipment such(prenominal) as books, calculators, laptops and stationary.Many students that dont move away from home face high travelling expenses each week with the cost of public transport constantly increasing as the government rising slope up the prices in order to attempt to get the country out of recession. The signifi rousece of the challenge We chose this topic as there is really so much hype being created in regard to the economic crisis and the import it is having on the cost of attending university which is creating huge financial problems for students and their families attending university.The government has majorly reduced the amount of financial sanction operational for undergraduates, many students no longer receive the grant payment which has resulted in many raw people n ot being able to finish their degrees. Due to the current economic climate students are rarely able to secure a stable job so that they hatful sustenance themselves, which forces many students to be dependent on government allowances. Again this causes financial problems for the students as the allowances ready(prenominal) to trio level students are minimal.We wanted to explore the different supports available to university students to armed service students overcome their financial problems. Section II Details of the student challenge. For each student attending university the average cost scum bag vary signifi stoogetly depending on whether they have to move away from home, travel a long distance to college daily or travel a short distance from their home to college each day. The following table gives an denotation of the monthly cost of living in Galway as a student. These be are an approximation only as monthly be leave alone depend on each persons individual necessit ate (NUIG Student-Life 2012).Accommodation 340 euro Food 260 euro Books/ donnish requisites 60 euro Clothes, laundry 60 euro Recreation one hundred eighty euro Other 100 euro Monthly Total 1,000 euro Nine month academic year 9,000 euro As the average Irish yearly income is 24,316 (Irishexaminer. ie), the cost of sending a student to university is over one third of the average Irish yearly wage and this is before the tuition fees have to be nonrecreational for which in itself presents a huge challenge for a family to be able to support both the student and the rest of the family.With this in mind most students need as much help as possible to budget, manage their money and make use of the discount and financial schemes available by means of the university. The university provides a range of support systems to help students overcome financial challenges they may face. For students living away from home checkup expenses fecal matter be a huge challenge as unfamiliar doctors tin corporation overcharge students, students can also be faced with the difficulty of budgeting for medical expenses as students cant predict when they will become ill.The National University of Ireland Galway has relived thousands of students from the worries and challenges they face in regard to medical fees as they provide a full medical centre with Doctors, Nurses and physiatrist free of charge to all students in the university. Only 10% of the student body is entitled to a medical circular (GMS). A medical card entitles the holder to free consultation, free prescriptions and free hospitalisation. Students are not entitled to a medical card unless their parents have such a card or unless they are on a grant. grow students i. e. ver 24 years of age could be entitled to a card in their own right depending on income. (NUIG Student-Life 2012). This is a brilliant support service available to all NUI Galway students no matter what financial mount the student comes from. The monthly food expense for a university student is two hundred and sixty euro, this can vary hugely depending on whether the student is economical about where they graze and what they pervert. Students can greatly reduce their obtain expenses by shopping in the cheaper supermarkets such as Lidl, Aldi and Tesco rather than littler convenience stores which tend be much more expensive. And the key to not bad(predicate) shopping is lists lists you stick to. Never shop hungry and dont rely on the big name retailers that your folks have shopped in for years, turn your back on brand names and only buy own-brand foods you will indite yourself a packet. A litre of milk from Avonmore costs 1. 14, a litre of Tesco milk costs 75 cents. (The Irish Times, kinsfolk 2012). The University also provides hot meals daily at only 5 in the university restaurant which can be very helpful to student who do not have time to return home to eat during the day.As wellspring as the academic side to college stud ents also have to have a genial life, which can become very costly and makes it harder for students to budget their money. The si ents company put a discount card scheme in place to help students save money while socialising. Galway Student throw out Card is estimated to save an average student 400 per semester / an average of 5 per night out ( 2 collide with a taxi, 2 mop up club admin & 1 off food after). On sales event for only 4 (Titaniuments. ie). This is a huge help to students in budgeting for the social side to their time in university.A huge financial problem faced by students is the price of textbooks required for the curriculum many of these books can cost up to 100 each and have to be bought brand radical as they all contain individual access codes for course cypher that has to be completed online. Many students have to buy up to quintuple books per semester which is a huge expense and creates a serious financial problem for students. Bank of Ireland is curre ntly putting schemes in place to allow students to murder out loans to pay for books. Section III Findings Currently at NUI Galway there are several procedures in place to help students live off a small budget and save money.Loyalty cards such as the student coupler card can get students various discounts at numerous shops and restaurants run by the students union throughout the college. The student union card can also earn students money, by purchasing items at any shop or restaurant run by the SU. Students can build up credit over-time on their purchases and eventually this credit can be turned into cash. NUI Galway also promote the titanium ents card which promotes social discounts for students such as free entry into nightclubs, discounts on taxis, and discounts on fast-food administer aways.In University College Dublin they offer many learnings to students which can be found on www. smurfitschool. ie which is the business school in UCD. An example of one is GMAT MBA science blustering to all applicants scoring above 700 on the GMAT. All scholarship applicants must already have been admitted to (have applied for, been interviewed and offered a place on) the full-time MBA Programme before they can be considered for any of the above scholarships. Open to Irish residents and international applicants. ( UCD-2012) in a university aboard such as Harvard, the offer financial aid also such as Harvard College has provided help to students who need help in meeting their education expenses for over 350 years, enabling us to seek out the most outstanding scholars in the realism and open our doors to students of exceptional ability and promise, regardless of their financial circumstances. Over 60% of undergraduates will receive an estimated $172 million in need-based Harvard Scholarship aid in 2012-13.Just in the past five years we have increased our financial aid by over 70 percent, enhancing our program to ensure the affordability of a Harvard education even i n these challenging economic times. We understand that the eyeshot of financing four years of college can be a intimidating prospect for anyone, and we are eager to help you and your family understand our financial aid programs and assist you in finding ways to meet your college costs (Harvard-2012) Section IV Possible solutions and recommendations.After applying the creative problem solving process we as a group began to look at the different ways a problem such as this can be solved. While flavor for solutions to the problem we researched numerous websites that offered advice on how students can budget and save money. (Schweitzer 2010) suggests numerous ways for students to save money such as avoiding impulse buying, cover the credit card and finding bargains. While undertaking more xtensive research into the problem and after reading several articles, another common pinch on how to budget efficiently was to invest in a student travel card which can give up to a third off the price of all rail prices (Warnes 2012). Another area that may affect a student budget is dress shopping. Many students can be fooled into buying expensive brand name clothes that they cant afford. (Waldron 2012) suggests students should shop at local charity shops such as Oxfam where they can buy a lot of these brand name clothes imprimatur hand for a fraction of the price.Although many students may not have been accustomed to shopping in charity shops previously Waldron insists the evaluate for students in this market is a no sensationer. Section 5 Recommendations After investigating the possible solutions we as a group discussed the various methods NUIG could warrant to help students tackle their budgeting issues. We looked at the offers that are already available to help students save money such as the SU loyalty card, the titanium ents card, the second hand book scheme etc. We then held numerous brain storming session where we thought of ideas that might help solve the prob lem.We considered various ideas such as opening a second hand clothes shop in the college or a grocery store where students could buy their weekly shopping at a discount price. We then concluded that projects such as this would incur too much of an expense that may not be affordable for the college. Another idea that we came up with was a student discount guide that could be published by the students union on a weekly basis containing information on where students could find the outperform discounts in Galway on a weekly basis.The leaflet could advise students on what supermarkets have the best food discounts on this week, what nightclubs are offering discounts, how students could save money on travel etc. Referencing nui galway. (2012). financial matters. for sale http//www. nuigalway. ie/student-life/financial-matters/. Last accessed fourteenth nov 2012. Titanium Ents and subsidiary groups. (2012). Galway Student Discount Card. purchasable http//www. titaniuments. com/galway-st udent-discount-card/. Last accessed fourteenth nov 2012 . C ODoherty. (2012). Dublin 3k ahead of average income. Available http//www. rishexaminer. com/ireland/dublin-3k-ahead-of-average-income-181644. html. Last accessed 14th nov 2012. nui galway. (2012). medical services. Available http//www. nuigalway. ie/student-life/student-support/medical-services. html. Last accessed 14th nov 2012 . C Pope. (2012). Cheap and cheerful way through college. Available http//www. irishtimes. com/composition/finance/2012/0911/1224323839157. html. Last accessed 14th nov 2012 . UCD. (2012). Scolarships. Available http//www. smurfitschool. ie/scholarships/gmatmbascholarships/. Last accessed 14th nov 2012 . Harvard University. (2012).WELCOME TO THE HARVARD COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID OFFICE. Available http//www. fao. fas. harvard. edu/icb/icb. do. Last accessed 14th nov 2012. Schweitzer. (2010). 10 weak Ways for Students to Save Money. About. com Guide. 10 (4), 33-34. Warnes, S. (2012). Top 10 brilliant stu dent money saving tips. Available http//www. neilstoolbox. com/bibliography-creator/reference-website. htm. Last accessed 10/Nov/2012. Waldron,C. (2012). Charity shops acquiring too big for their Pradas?. Available http//campus. ie/college-life/money-matters/charity-shops-getting-too-big-for-their-pradas. Last accessed 12/nov/2012.