Students Should Not Have to Choose Between a University Education and a Place to Live

There was once a time when going to university was about much more than attending lectures, completing assignments and sitting examinations.

For many young people, university represented a first real step into adulthood: leaving the family home, meeting people from different backgrounds, learning to live independently and building friendships and experiences that could last a lifetime.

Today, that experience is increasingly becoming a luxury.

More and more young people preparing to start university are choosing to remain living with their parents because they simply cannot justify — or afford — the cost of moving away. What should be an exciting transition into higher education is instead becoming a financial calculation.

Can I afford to live independently, or do I have to stay at home?

That is a deeply troubling question for a generation of students.

More than 81,000 UK 18-year-olds have indicated that they intend to live at home while studying at university this year — more than one in three students in that group. Nine years ago, the proportion was closer to one in five.

That is not simply a change in lifestyle preference.

It tells us something about the state of student finances, housing and higher education in Britain.

University is becoming increasingly unaffordable

For decades, moving away for university was considered almost a rite of passage.

A student would receive their university offer, find a room in halls, pack up their belongings and begin a new chapter of their life.

But accommodation costs have changed the calculation dramatically.

Student accommodation can now consume an enormous proportion of a student's available income. In some parts of the country, particularly London, accommodation costs can reach hundreds of pounds a week.

For a student relying primarily on a maintenance loan, that can make the prospect of living away from home extremely difficult.

And accommodation is only one part of the equation.

There is food.

Electricity.

Transport.

Books and equipment.

Clothing.

Mobile phones.

Social activities.

Laundry.

Course materials.

Unexpected expenses.

And, increasingly, the need to work part-time simply to make ends meet.

The result is that a young person can be accepted into university but still find themselves unable to afford the traditional university experience.

That should concern all of us.

Staying at home can save thousands

For some students, staying at home makes perfect financial sense.

A student commuting from their family home may save thousands of pounds over the course of a degree.

They may have access to a kitchen without having to worry about buying every meal.

They may not have to pay rent.

They may avoid energy bills and other household expenses.

They may have parents who can provide support when money becomes tight.

For some families, this is an entirely sensible arrangement.

But we need to be careful about presenting it as a simple success story.

Because saving money is not the same thing as having a choice.

There is a major difference between a student saying:

"I want to live at home because it suits me."

and a student saying:

"I would love to move away, but I simply cannot afford it."

The second situation is what should concern us.

The university experience is more than a lecture theatre

University is not simply a place where students attend classes.

It is also a social environment.

It is where many young people make their closest friendships.

It is where they learn to manage their own finances.

It is where they discover how to cook for themselves.

It is where they learn to share accommodation with other people.

It is where they experience independence.

It is where they may join societies, sports clubs, student organisations and cultural groups.

It is where they encounter people from different parts of Britain and the world.

For some students, living away from home is an important part of becoming an adult.

And we should not underestimate how much that matters.

A student commuting to university can still have an excellent experience. They can make friends, join societies, attend events and become part of university life.

But long commutes inevitably create additional barriers.

If a student has to catch the last train home, they may miss an evening society meeting.

If they have a two-hour round trip every day, they have less time available for social activities.

If they also have a part-time job, their university experience can become a constant juggling act.

The danger is that university becomes:

lecture → commute → work → sleep → repeat.

That is not necessarily the rich educational experience that higher education should provide.

The hidden cost of commuting

We should also stop treating commuting as free.

A student who lives at home might avoid paying rent, but they can face substantial transport costs.

Train fares, bus fares and other travel expenses can quickly add up.

There is also the cost in time.

A 50-minute journey each way means more than eight hours a week if the student travels five days a week.

Over an academic year, that becomes hundreds of hours spent travelling.

For some students, the financial saving will be worth it.

For others, the time lost could affect their studies, employment opportunities and social lives.

And transport infrastructure matters.

Students living in major cities may have relatively frequent public transport.

Students in rural areas or communities with poor transport connections face a very different reality.

The decision to remain at home can therefore depend heavily on where a student happens to live.

A postcode should not determine your university experience

This is one of the biggest issues Britain needs to confront.

A student living close to a university can potentially commute.

A student living several hours away may have little alternative to renting.

That means two students with exactly the same academic ability, the same ambitions and the same university offer can face completely different financial pressures simply because of their postcode.

That cannot be ignored.

Higher education is supposed to expand opportunity.

But if accommodation costs determine which universities students can realistically attend, then the housing crisis becomes an education crisis.

A young person should be choosing a university based primarily on the course, the institution and their ambitions.

They should not be forced to choose their university according to whichever campus is closest to their parents' house.

The maintenance loan problem

Maintenance support is intended to help students meet the costs of living while studying.

But the fundamental problem is that support has to keep pace with reality.

A maintenance loan might look substantial on paper.

But if rent consumes a huge proportion of it before the student has bought food, travelled to university or paid for course materials, its real value quickly disappears.

This creates a particularly unfair situation.

Students from wealthier families may receive financial assistance from their parents.

Their parents might help with rent.

They might pay for a car.

They might provide money for food and emergencies.

Another student might have parents who simply cannot afford to provide that assistance.

That student may have to work evenings and weekends just to survive.

Two students can therefore receive exactly the same government support while having completely different financial circumstances.

That is one reason why the student cost-of-living debate cannot be reduced to the headline figure of a maintenance loan.

Part-time work is becoming part of student survival

Working while studying is not inherently a bad thing.

A part-time job can teach valuable skills.

It can provide work experience.

It can help students develop confidence and independence.

But there is a major difference between working because you want some extra spending money and working because you cannot afford to eat or pay your rent without it.

If a student is working long hours during term time, that inevitably creates pressure.

Every hour spent behind a bar, working in a shop, delivering food or doing another job is an hour that cannot be spent studying, resting or participating in university life.

Students should not be forced into a situation where employment competes directly with education.

And then there are the students who simply cannot move

We should also consider students whose circumstances make living away from home particularly difficult.

Some may have caring responsibilities.

Some may have family responsibilities.

Some may have disabilities or other needs that make finding suitable accommodation more complicated.

Others may simply feel unable to take on the financial risk of moving away.

Universities need to recognise that the student population is changing.

The traditional image of an 18-year-old moving into halls for three years does not represent everyone.

But that does not mean universities should simply accept the decline of residential student life.

Instead, they need to ask what can be done to make university accommodation more affordable and accessible.

The housing market is part of the problem

Ultimately, this is not solely a university problem.

It is a housing problem.

Britain has struggled for years with the availability and affordability of housing.

Students are competing for accommodation in cities where rents have risen sharply.

Universities themselves face pressure to provide more rooms.

Local communities are also concerned about housing availability.

Private landlords face their own costs.

And students are often at the bottom of a housing market where demand is extremely high.

If Britain wants more young people to participate fully in higher education, then student accommodation has to be treated as part of the infrastructure of higher education.

Universities need enough affordable rooms.

Cities need sufficient housing.

Transport networks need to function effectively.

And government policy needs to recognise that the cost of attending university does not end with tuition fees.

Online university is not the complete answer

Distance learning and online education can provide an important alternative.

For some students, studying online is exactly what they need.

It can allow them to remain at home.

They can continue working.

They can avoid accommodation costs.

They can fit study around family responsibilities.

Technology has made higher education more accessible than ever.

But online education should not become an excuse for allowing traditional university life to become unaffordable.

There is something valuable about bringing students together.

Universities are communities, not merely websites delivering lectures.

Students should have the choice.

If someone wants to study online from their bedroom, that option should exist.

If someone wants to move across the country, live in halls and immerse themselves in university life, that option should also remain financially realistic.

We must not create a two-tier university experience

There is a danger that Britain could develop a two-tier university system.

One group of students — those with wealthy families — can afford to move away, live in comfortable accommodation, participate in societies and enjoy the full university experience.

Another group — those without that financial support — remains at home, works part-time and commutes long distances.

Both students may receive the same degree.

But their experiences can be radically different.

That matters because university is not only about obtaining a q

We need to stop normalising "insane" student rents

There is something particularly depressing about hearing young people describe accommodation prices as "ridiculous" or "insane".

They are not talking about luxury apartments.

They are often talking about small student rooms.

A young person should not need to spend hundreds of pounds every week simply to have somewhere to sleep while studying.

And parents should not have to make enormous financial sacrifices simply to give their children the same university experience that previous generations took for granted.

We need to ask how we reached a situation where a student can be accepted into university and then discover that the cost of actually living near it is prohibitive.

Universities have a responsibility too

Universities cannot simply point towards government.

Institutions need to examine their own accommodation strategies.

They should be asking:

• Are enough affordable rooms available?

• Are rents rising faster than student incomes?

• Can accommodation contracts be made more flexible?

• Are students being pushed into expensive private accommodation?

• Can universities build more housing?

• Can unused buildings be converted into student accommodation?

• Are commuting students being properly integrated into university life?

The commuter student should not become an afterthought.

If more than a third of young university entrants are living at home, universities need to adapt.

They need commuter societies.

Better spaces for students between lectures.

Facilities where students can study and socialise.

Late transport information.

Support for students who have to travel long distances.

And opportunities to participate in university life without having to stay until midnight.

Government must recognise the real cost of higher education

Government also has a responsibility.

Increasing maintenance support can help.

But it must be based on realistic living costs.

There is little point increasing a maintenance loan by a modest amount if rents, food and transport rise substantially faster.

The government needs to consider the total cost of being a student, not simply tuition fees.

That means accommodation.

Food.

Transport.

Energy.

Technology.

Course materials.

And the financial pressure of having to work during term time.

If higher education is a national priority, then students need to be able to participate in it without being pushed into financial hardship.

Students deserve a choice

This should ultimately be about choice.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a student choosing to live with their parents.

For some, it will be the best possible arrangement.

They may enjoy being close to their families.

They may save money.

They may prefer commuting.

They may have responsibilities at home.

But a student should also be able to say:

"I want to move away and experience university life."

And have that choice be realistically affordable.

That is where the current situation becomes concerning.

When growing numbers of students stay at home because accommodation is too expensive, we should not simply celebrate their ability to save money.

We should ask why they were priced out of the alternative.

The bigger question for Britain

Britain has spent years talking about social mobility.

We encourage young people to work hard at school.

We tell them that university can open doors.

We encourage them to gain qualifications and pursue ambitious careers.

But what happens when they get through the door and discover they cannot afford to live there?

That is the question we need to answer.

A university education should not come with an unofficial financial test attached.

Nor should the ability to live independently during university depend on whether your parents can afford to subsidise you.

If Britain wants to create a skilled, educated and economically productive population, then making university accommodation affordable is not simply a student welfare issue.

It is an investment in the country's future.

The Real Terryo view

The rise in students living at home should be treated as a warning sign.

We should welcome the fact that young people are finding creative ways to manage the cost of higher education. We should also recognise that commuting can work extremely well for many students.

But we should not fool ourselves into thinking that everything is fine.

When accommodation becomes so expensive that students describe it as "insane", when students have to take jobs simply to cover basic living costs, and when thousands decide they cannot afford to move away from home, Britain has a problem.

The solution is not to tell young people to lower their expectations.

It is not to tell them that university was never supposed to be comfortable.

And it is certainly not to tell them that working long hours alongside a full-time degree is simply part of being a student.

Instead, we should build a higher education system in which where a student lives is a choice rather than a financial necessity.

University should be a time when young people learn, grow, make friendships and discover who they are.

It should be challenging academically.

It should encourage independence.

It should broaden horizons.

It should open doors.

It should not close those doors because the student cannot afford the rent.

Britain owes its young people better than that.