posted about 2 years ago
Thank you helebon and piju for the supportive comments.
I was quite shocked at what was said to me to be honest.
I did make the point that I have paid more than my fair share of taxes over the year in some relatively high paid jobs.
I think what riled him was the fact that at my age I would be unlikely to be doing the PhD to further my career and that is correct - I am wanting to do the PhD primarily to complete my academic education, for the intellectual stimulation that studying (which I enjoy) will bring and last but not least to become an expert in my field of study.
I did also point out that even if I did not undertake the PhD I could quite conceivably still be working at 70 (particularly as I run my own business) and earning above the £25K threshold and therefore repaying at least part of the loan.
In point of fact I would not need the full £25K - part-time fees over 6 years would be c. £12K. I can support myself and my family through my work (which has supported them for the past 5 years) which I intend to continue with - and in continuing to work,I will be continuing to pay taxes myself!
I asked the family member up to what age he would suggest the loans should be available (they are available for anyone up to 59 years of age) and he replied "25 or so" which is ridiculous in my mind as some people will not have even attained a Masters by that age (including me as I was (along with a whole cohort of colleagues) 33 when I got my Masters)).
Maths is not my strong point but I have read that the average salary for a London-based PhD graduate is £47,500 - so it would take someone on that salary around 9 years to repay £25k at 6% per annum?
And I would suspect that for many PhD graduates £47,500 salary is optimistic?
N