Problems Facing University Students

Financial Ch on the wholeenges Facing University Students FA120-Skills to succeed Group Creative trouble solving assignment By Megan Sweeney (12522637) Anna Heffernan (12743239) And Ross Swords (12344681) Word Count two grand piano two hundred and eight. Contents P duration Section 1 thickset Pages 3 and 4 Section II Details of the assimilators challenge Pages 4 and 5 Section triple Findings Pages 5 and 6 Section IV Possible solutions and recommendations Page 6 Section V Recommendations Page 6 References Page 7 Section I Summary. IntroductionAfter discussing our assignment as a group we recognised what conundrums and challenges may be relevant to university bookmans. We felt the subject atomic number 18a more or less relevant to ourselves as a group and the majority of university educatees, was the pecuniary challenges face by university students. For most students as they start university it is their first condemnation documentation a behavior from shoes which elic it create problems for both the student and their families fiscally with both the gamey costs involved in direct a student to university and the difficulties the student faces themselves in reckoning their periodic allowance.Many students struggle to show up their gold correctly and often spend more money on socialising weekly than on the essentials much(prenominal)(prenominal) as aliment, and often at that place is little or no money left to put towards books and course of study based activities. For the purpose of this assignment and to suspensor ourselves as students manage our money in a more economical manner we mystify researched the problems and solutions which go along in the everyday life of an Irish university student. Statement of the student challengeThe fiscal difficulties faced by a university scholar argon brought about by the richly cost of tuition fees which ar continuously increasing as a result of poor management by our previous regimes, the hi gh cost of student accommodation for those students who obtain to move away from nursing cornerstone to attend university. Students living away from home in any case cast off to have a weekly allowance for essentials, heating and electricity bills, and college equipment such as books, calculators, laptops and stationary.Many students that dont move away from home face high travelling expenses for each one week with the cost of public transport constantly increasing as the g overnment hike up the prices in regulate to attempt to get the country out of recession. The signifi tin stomachce of the challenge We chose this number as there is currently so often hype organism created in regard to the economic crisis and the effect it is having on the cost of attendance university which is creating vast financial problems for students and their families attending university.The government has majorly reduced the amount of financial aid available for undergraduates, many students n o longer receive the have payment which has resulted in many young people not universe able to finish their degrees. Due to the current economic climate students are rarely able to secure a stable job so that they butt joint nurse themselves, which forces many students to be dependent on government allowances. Again this ca uses financial problems for the students as the allowances available to third level students are minimal.We wanted to explore the different supports available to university students to inspection and repair students overcome their financial problems. Section II Details of the student challenge. For each student attending university the fairish cost heap vary signifi apprizetly depending on whether they have to move away from home, travel a long blank space to college nonchalant or travel a short distance from their home to college each day. The following table maintains an indication of the monthly cost of living in Galway as a student. These costs are an approximation moreover as monthly costs provide depend on each persons undivided needs (NUIG Student-Life 2012).Accommodation 340 euro Food 260 euro Books/academic requisites 60 euro C readinesshes, laundry 60 euro Recreation 180 euro Other 100 euro periodical Total 1,000 euro Nine month academic year 9,000 euro As the number 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 earlier the tuition fees have to be paid for which in itself presents a spacious 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 give the sack and financial schemes available through 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 medical expenses can be a huge challenge as unfamiliar doctors can over fritter away students, students can also be faced with the difficulty of budgeting for medical expenses as students cant predict when they will turn over 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 authorize to a medical card (GMS). A medical card entitles the toter 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. Mature students i. e. ver 24 years of age could be entitled to a card in their own proper(a) depending on income. (NUIG Student-Life 2012). This is a brilliant support service available to all NUI Galway studen ts no matter what financial background 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 stag and what they buy. Students can greatly reduce their shopping expenses by shopping in the cheaper supermarkets such as Lidl, Aldi and Tesco rather than smaller convenience stores which tend be much more expensive. And the key to good shopping is lists lists you stick to. never shop hungry and dont rely on the life-size name retailers that your folks have shopped in for years, turn your back on betray names and only buy own-brand foods you will hand over yourself a packet. A litre of draw from Avonmore costs 1. 14, a litre of Tesco milk costs 75 cents. (The Irish Times, September 2012). The University also provides hot meals daily at only 5 in the university eatery which can be very helpful to student who do not have date to return home to eat d uring the day.As well as the academic array to college students also have to have a social life, which can become very costly and makes it harder for students to budget their money. The titanium ents company put a discount card scheme in place to help students besides money while socialising. Galway Student Discount Card is estimated to save an average student 400 per semester / an average of 5 per night out ( 2 finish off a taxi, 2 off club admin & 1 off food after). On sale 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 programme many of these books can cost up to 100 each and have to be bought brand new as they all contain individual access codes for course work that has to be completed online. Many students have to buy up to five books per semester which is a huge expense and creates a serious financial problem for students. Bank of Ireland is currently putting schemes in place to allow students to take out loans to pay for books. Section III Findings Currently at NUI Galway there are several(prenominal) procedures in place to help students live off a small budget and save money.Loyalty cards such as the student totality 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 authorise 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 upgrade the titanium ents card which promotes social discounts for students such as free gate into nightclubs, discounts on taxis, and discounts on fast-food take aship canal.In University College capital of Ireland they offer many scholarships to students which can be found on www. smurfitschool. ie which is the business school in UCD. An example of one is GMAT MBA Scholarship Open to all applicants scoring higher up 700 on the GMAT. All scholarship applicants must already have been admitted to (have apply 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 assistance to students who need help in group meeting their education expenses for over 350 years, enabling us to seek out the most outstanding scholars in the world and open our doors to students of exceptional ability and promise, heedless 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, enhan cing our program to ensure the affordability of a Harvard education even in these challenging economic times. We understand that the thought of financing four years of college can be a daunting 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. small-arm looking 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, hiding the credit card and finding bargains. While undertaking more xtensive research into the problem and after reading several articles, another common suggestion on how to budget efficientl y was to invest in a student travel card which can give up to a third off the price of all aim prices (Warnes 2012). Another area that may affect a student budget is clothes shopping. Many students can be fooled into buying expensive brand name clothes that they cant afford. (Waldron 2012) suggests students should shop at topical anaesthetic charity shops such as Oxfam where they can buy a lot of these brand name clothes arcminute hand for a section of the price.Although many students may not have been accustomed to shopping in charity shops previously Waldron insists the value for students in this market is a no brainer. Section 5 Recommendations After investigating the possible solutions we as a group discussed the various methods NUIG could undertake 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 and so forthtera We then held numerous brain storming session where we thought of thinkings that might help solve the problem.We considered various ideas such as opening a second hand clothes shop in the college or a foodstuff 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 print by the students union on a weekly basis containing nurture on where students could find the best 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. addressable http//www. nuigalway. ie/student-life/financial-matters/. utmost accessed 14th nov 2012. Titanium Ents and adjunct groups . (2012). Galway Student Discount Card. visible(prenominal) http//www. titaniuments. com/galway-student-discount-card/. lowest accessed 14th 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/newspaper/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 Easy Ways for Stu dents to Save Money. About. com Guide. 10 (4), 33-34. Warnes, S. (2012). conduce 10 brilliant student money saving tips. Available http//www. neilstoolbox. com/bibliography-creator/reference-website. htm. Last accessed 10/Nov/2012. Waldron,C. (2012). Charity shops getting 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.