AT THE ripe age of 44, I decided to return to the classroom. However, it wasn’t the qualifications I was looking for. My gambit was to find a 'dossers degree' with the lowest fees and use the remainder to get my kitchen refurbished.
Settling on the remote creative writing masters degree at Teesside University, I was able to do just that. Most of my college friends rightly got ahead with their fancy degrees in 2002 and had to get out all kinds of loans to pay for it. Back then, masters degrees were paid for by banks, they loaned tens of thousands with high interest-rates that required payback almost as soon as they graduated.
Nervous about debt and finding employment, I put off my masters degree, happy enough with my two-year Foundation Degree in Journalism and not quite graduating with a three-years honours degree. But come lockdown I was ready to reenter the education system and join my friends in MA-ville. Government loans have improved for students in the last 10 years – as it stands you can now receive a loan of £12,471 for a year's full-time masters degree making it possible for me to afford it.
Many courses are remote and to pass mine and receive my merit in Creative Writing, I only put in a few hours a week. My kitchen cost £7,750 from Wickes and my course fees were only £3,750. I reported this to the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP).
They made it easy – I simply had to answer a Q&A over the phone about my course and how much the fees and loan were. I was .
