Many students are desperately trying to calculate how to make ends meet (Picture: Getty/Supplied)
During her first year of higher education, money was so tight for 18-year-old Tryphine Gumbo that she ended up skipping lectures to earn money working in retail, while surviving on one meal a day.
It was little wonder it took a toll on her studies, but even so she managed to graduate from Sheffield Hallam last year with a degree in human biology.
‘I had been looking forward to going to university, meeting new people, expanding my horizons and learning new skills,’ Tryphine, 26, tells Metro. ‘But it turned out to be the most stressful, exhausting and overwhelming time.’
Against a cost of living crisis that has seen inflation soar in recent years, many of today’s undergraduates are struggle to manage extortionate tuition fees.
Instead of being able to focus on their studies, they are desperately calculating how they will possibly make ends meet, especially as their time at university could set them back around £66,560, according to student money website Save the Student.
Despite UK uni fees already being among the highest in the world – partly because they aren’t funded by government subsidies, and partly because they are costly to run – just this week, 141 English universities called for higher tuition fees, alongside direct government funding, to stop the sector from declining.
However, for many students, it’s not the fees that worry then, it’s their living costs according to Save the Student. Which leaves many potential undergraduates asking if their eventual salary increase will be worth the next three years of financial hardship.
After an arduous three years of balancing finances with university work, Tryphine recalls how she was left feeling depressed and anxious.
The financial toll of university had Tryphine wondering if it was really worth it (Picture: Supplied)
‘It was extremely challenging. I would be paid at the end of the month and I would prioritise the bills, paying off the electricity and gas, and by the second week all the money would be gone,’ she explains.
Tryphine spent a lot of time flitting between stores to get the best deals on food and had to abandon many of the self care products that build up her self-esteem.
‘‘When you’re out every day meeting new people, first impressions are important, and I was left feeling unconfident about my appearance.
I couldn’t afford the right skincare products or deodorant, which would also affect how I felt around people. I would be thinking; do I need to go home and have an extra shower? But that would have added to the bills.’
In a bid to cut costs, Tryphine would often end up only eating one meal a day – something from Greggs or anything she could find which was ‘quick and warm’ – which only made her feel worse. Not only was the lack of balanced nutrition affecting her studies in terms of energy and focus, the whole ordeal was impacting her wellbeing.
‘I became really depressed,’ she recalls. ‘I was …read more
Source:: Metro
