University Graduates

Are university students known for being poor and living on a baked bean diet?

That was the impression i had when i was still studying A- levels and went to the aston university open day. A guy was doing a talk about the life of student living on baked beans. At my uni campus, a lot of the students dont look poor. In fact they look like their living the high life wearing expensive looking clothes. They dont really look trampy and poor- the kind of image i was expecting. Perhaps they work- i dont know.

Public Comments

1. students of today dress in better clothes and have a better phone, ipod etc than me and I work. maybe they're living on credit, i don't know how they do it.
2. They are all poor well hung thieves.
3. hey, I did it. college kids are poor. ESPECIALLY the athletes. they are not allowed to make money. what the hell? Yes, I lived on several bean burritos and the girls in my class knew it by the smell of things.
4. Beans, kebabs and Haute Couture! And huge loans from mummy and daddy!!
5. Yep, baked beans and beer.
6. Well university students aren't poor, but they live on a fixed budget. Low on the list of priorities are food. Higher on the list are booze, partying, certain drugs, etc. Typically university students are well off, but that doesn't mean they have a limited budget. I had a budget of $100 a week for "fun" and that evaporated fast every week.
7. Once they`ve spent the bulk of thier grant on pizza and alcohol then it`s beans and dry bread,,unless thier parents bail them out,,
8. I've been shopping with my daughter when she was a student. Tesco value brand everything and pasta was the most prevalent in the trolley but the budget allowed for a six pack of Stella.
9. I agree with Blossom- credit cards and loans- but it will come back and haunt them sometime-god forbid they dont get that degree; bankrupsy all round
10. Student loans are reasonably generous and can easily pay for basic accommodation and food, with money left over for going out and buying luxuries. However, once students come out the other end, with debts in excess of £20k, they wont be feeling so rich!! It can take a lifetime to pay this off for some people. So yes there is a much higher standard of living thanks to Student loans, but we spend the rest of our lives paying for it.
11. people today like to look good ie expensive clothes, a good phone, ipod. but then they don't have the money for food. so basically baked beans and hot dogs are all they eat (unless the have a meal plan)
12. The common joke for Uni food here in Austalia is the good old 2 minute noodles: most of us can't stand them after we graduate and get a full time job. We have our share of the well-healed, up-front fee paying students, but the majority are there because they can defer the higher education debt until they reach a certain income bracket. We do have an income supplement called Austudy, but it is less than unemployment so most students need to have a job of some kind. It is not easy attending lectures, working and studying but of those who attempt it, most make it through because they are deteremined. However, that level of poverty is becoming less obvious because parents are having less children and tend to over indulge the ones they have. It would be interesting to be able to compare the social awareness and consciousness of students 10 years ago to the ones today.
13. They either get allowance from Daddy, Live on Credit or about 2% get a job. The ones who live on Baked beans are the ones who go out & get wrecked every night, thats why they cant afford or even be bothered with food
14. You will find a variety of students and social standings at any University. A large percentage will be middle class or above and won't be on any goofy diet. You are also correct, a fair amount have jobs. Universities also offer jobs to students if they do not want to work off campus. I was also very partial to ramen noodles. $.10 for a pack and just add hot water. Baked Beans seem a little odd because they are not extremely cheap and they also don't have much nutritional value (not that ramen does). The last thing to consider is that virtually all students who live on campus in dorms have meal plans. The school provides three meals a day in a cafeteria setting. Its not great but its better than nothing.
15. Clothes and electrical goods can be a bad indicator. clothes may be old, second hand, home made, restyled or bought by the parents electrical goods may be bought by the parents or (as in a laptop or PC) seen as 'essentials' from my uni days, I remember students who looked outwardly well-off, but were thousands in debt, and living on noodles and rice. I worked throughout my degree course. I am sure that it contributed to the fact that i didnt get top marks, but scraped through with a 3rd (Hons). I would never have gone in looking 'trampy' {edit} nice to see that there is no shortage of prejudice against students
16. Question of priorities, really. Who bothers with food, when you can buy beer, have expensive items on credit etc.?
17. That's because when the grants come in at the start of the year they feel rich and go out and buy clothes. They still own those clothes later on in the year, but don't have any money left to eat properly. Plus, many students won't be poor, depending on what university you are at there may be a high proportion of students whose families have loads of money.
18. its down to the individual student, everyones different. I finished uni this year and I ate well, clothing were from christmas and birthday present (expect gladly a primark arrived in jan), got drunk and partied but also worked hard and got a 2.1. I worked in the holidays too. However students are actually all different, I do really hate the negative lazy stereotype their is.
19. most people get a part time job. i have three part time jobs right now. and my loan is there too.
20. 2-minute noodles is the meal of choice among uni students.
21. I am a student at university and I am sorry to say that I do not go out at night and get totally wrecked, and I do not live on baked beans, if you are careful with your grant there should be no need to live on baked beans. I had my grant in September and I have still got quite a lot of it left, this will see me at through christmas and well into the new year when the next payment is due. Some students do work part time to help them meet the bills or travel expenses, I think students being poor and living on baked beans is a myth.