Tackling back to school costs

What the latest back-to-school costs survey really tell us

It’s another year and another back-to-school costs report. This one from the Irish League of Credit Unions! And not unlike previous iterations of this report, we learn that education in Ireland is not without significant cost.

Whether it is children returning to primary or secondary school or even college, the costs run into thousands and much more if college-bound students are concerned!

All this impacts families up and down the country where careful financial planning is an absolute must when it comes to education costs.

To begin with, even for parents of primary school children, according to the ILCU report, the cost of getting them school-ready can be in the region of €1,100. This increases to about €1,500 for secondary school. But the greatest cost of all is for those college-bound students where costs can range from between €6,500 and almost €12,000 per year!

Planning is the first step

For parents that seek to avoid using debt to fund the back-to-school costs, long-term planning is an absolute must. And it will not be sufficient to just plan for cost at a particular school level. For example, it will be necessary to factor in the long-term cost of an education in totality. So, if there is one child, the cost of educating that child multiplied by the total number of years they will be in primary / secondary school or college is the real number parents need to plan for. Depending on the college situation, on whether they commute to college from home or live away from home, the total cost of education, including all costs can be in excess of €50,000 per child (or much more if they live away from home).

While some of the primary and secondary school costs can be funded from monthly household budgets, this many not be an option for all families.

Our education loans are a smart solution!

The credit union movement was established to provide families with access to credit at reasonable costs. This is still exactly how credit unions operate to this day. Here at Aviate Credit Union, our primary objective is to help families access credit for education purposes. Plus, we approve loans based on the ability of families to repay (not how much they have on deposit). So, for members that are looking to a fair deal on education loans, our team are here to help them get loan approval.

Easy loan terms

Our education loans can be repaid over a full 5-year term which is designed to keep monthly repayments affordable. Plus, loans of up to €70,000 are available to families that can demonstrate repayment capacity.

Check out our online loan repayments calculator

For members wishing to work out their repayments, our online loan calculator provides a quick and simple tool to confirm if monthly repayment fit their monthly budgets. The calculator is available HERE.

We are here to help

Aviate Credit Union staff are available to support members manage back-to-school costs so please feel free to contact us today!