Top tips to help parents reduce student debt
Saving
Get your children used to saving their money at an early age, says Elain Cox, welfare officer at De Montfort University (who is putting her own daughter through university), ‘Encourage them to make some savings.’
A teenager putting aside ₤20 per week from a Saturday job will end up with more than ₤1000 in a year.  If they have achieved this themselves, they will not only feel proud of the fact, but they may feel less inclined to spend it all at once.

Budgeting
‘It’s a good idea for parents to help the child take more control and responsibility through budgeting,’ says Cox.  A crucial skill – best learnt when the child is still at home – is to write down their income and outgoings.  This is what debt advisers do with their clients, but teaching your children to understand basic budgeting in this way could stop them getting into difficulties. ‘When you write it down on paper, you can see what is happening very quickly – and your children can see it too,’ says Cox.

Cash Flow
Many students manage their cash much better on a weekly basis than a monthly one.  Elaine Cox recommends that the parents and the student work out what the student can afford each week, and that the student then takes this sum (and no more) out of a cash machine on the same day every week.  ‘If they live on that, they are going to manage,’ she says.
A credit card is ‘a definite no’, she says, as are store cards.  A ₤500 credit limit on a card can seem harmless, but Cox has seen this type of arrangement ‘soon adding up to thousands of pounds’ when students exceed the limit, get it extended, and then incur penalties and interest.

Insurance
Students typically go to university with about ₤4,000 worth of equipment, according to specialist insurer Endsleigh.  They are most vulnerable to theft at the start of the university year, when thieves take advantage of the lax security among financial ingénues and often walk in and help themselves to new laptops, mobiles, iPods and the rest.
Some university halls provide contents cover (including some at Aberdeen, Surrey and Westminster), but many do not.  Parents may be able to cover their children by extending their own contents policies – or they might suggest buying a separate policy.
Students with cars need to tell motor insurers when they change address.  Insurers could turn down a claim if, for instance, a student is no longer living in a hall of residence (and parking in the safer environment of a university car park), but living in a flat in town and parking in a back street.

Tenancies
When students move from a hall of residence and into a flat, parents will often find themselves being guarantors on the letting contract – some landlords insist on this.  If you are a guarantor, make sure you see the paperwork (and, if possible, the flat or house), as you are liable if your child or the other tenants default on the rent.  Even the most sensible 20-year-olds will struggle with the legal and financial implications of renting a property.  Are the names of all the tenants on the contract – not just one or two who would end up being liable if the others default?  If the contract is for a year, can you negotiate for it to exclude the summer holidays if your child is unlikely to be in the flat then?  (You obviously have more bargaining power in locations where there is a glut of rented property.)  Has the landlord fulfilled all legal obligations – gas safety certificate and complying with the tenancy deposit scheme?  Is the equipment provided in good order – and happens if the washing machine or cooker breaks down?  How will your child and their flatmates organize paying the bills?  ‘You should all have your name on the account,’ says Ann Morton of British Gas.  ‘The name on the account is the person who is liable to pay’.

Get help
Impress upon your child that they must come to you or to university welfare advisers if they ever want to discuss money.  When people get into difficulties, the turning point is usually when they face up to the problem.
If your child does end up in debt, don’t despair.  They will probably get to grips with the problems, get a job, repay the debt and be debt free after a couple of years.  They are also more likely to learn their lesson and end up in less debt in the future.