AIBU to discourage uni for daughter, I'm worried about debt without career plan?

Totally agree with you OP, my DS2 is at uni and I worry alot about the debt he will be saddled with before even getting a job.

Ds1 chose a different path and is earning and learning, no debt

I have already commented but wanted to add what are the alternatives you think your daughter should consider OP? Because:

• these days most entry jobs will still ask for a degree
• someone who is academic and has shown no interest in learning a trade would not suit an apprenticeship
• the job market is tough for everyone so who do you think will employ a young person with no degree and I assume little work experience?

So realistically what do you expect her to do?

I think you need to look at this long term rather than just focus on students loans. In her situation going to higher education still makes the most sense.

She can always look at living at home while she is doing her degree and getting a part time job.

Maybe see if you can research the quality of careers services at the unis your DD is interested in. I went to a RG uni and found the service there useless for me. This was 15 years ago though.

I would support her in going to uni, but I would also encourage consistent research into career paths while she is there and encourage to find as much work experience while at uni.

@HappyLemonChickenCurry Some dc do actually become psychologists! Choose uninersity very carefully though! She will certainly never become one without the degree! I’d be wary of her going to a second division university, but if it was Bath or Oxford, she’d be employable. Look at stats for employment.

She will get careers advice and will have uni careers advice. If she doesn’t get a decent job, the degree will be virtually free ! Low repayments on low salaries!

However why doesn’t she investigate psychology careers and pathways if she loves it so much. Is it part of her IB qualification? She’s bright enough to look at careers so why hasn’t she? Most psychology grads don’t become psychologists but she must have some idea what other jobs might be available! Teaching for example. My neighbours DS is a journalist following his psychology degree.

We are not rich enough to pay for 37.% of young people to go to university. The vast majority have loans. Most parents don’t have £45,000 minimum to hand over. She’s not unique and don’t project your fears onto her. It’s not fair. Just guide her towards the best universities that get the most into work. Being with others with career plans usually galvanizes dc! Psychology is a gateway degree for the majority but if she’s great at it, why assume she cannot follow it as a career?

Most students don’t know what they want to do - that’s what the uni careers guidance is for. You’re being so unreasonable.

Just my opinion but I took a year out and it was completely life changing, totally worth it. I wasn't sure about uni and I was a) more sure by the time I went, b) had a realistic view of how hard it was to get a job that year so I became a far more hard working focused person and c) picked up a trade that changed my life.

I think if your DD wants to go to uni that is great but she needs some semblance of practicality about the experience to give her the great experience and a good life / prospects / not a huge debt problem after.

Once graduates are earning over the threshold they will pay 9% on the difference between salary and threshold.

So 25K threshold, salary 30k. They will pay 9% on the 5k difference.

Also, everything you're read recently is about plan two loans which have a higher rate of interest than the plan your daughter will be on. Both plans have negative aspects, but overall the positive is a earning a degree. Not having a degree will always put a ceiling on future earning and potential.

I didn’t go to university, I studied with the OU. University is so much more than education, it’s a rich life experience and I’d only discourage my own child from it if they weren’t engaged in the educational side. Even fairly soft degrees can be useful in unrelated fields if you get a first and go to a respectable university, as they show intelligence and hard work.

Apprenticeships are great IF you know what you want you do. They’re training you for a job so employers are looking for young people who can demonstrate that they really want to work in that sector.

I’d take your own advice about scrolling on by as it ‘aint that hard’.

Better you do this than continue to clog up the OP’s thread with your issues.

The threshold keeps dropping in real terms.

Have you investigated other options? Apprenticeships are fantastic. She can study and work, the employer pays for the course which could be a degree or equivalent level qualification. She earns money while doing it and will not have debt at the end.

Nope just tired of seeing such irritatingly pointless “advice” on here. Ain’t that hard to scroll on by if you have nothing helpful to say. I saw a thread recently where a poster was extremely distressed about her 20-something son who was having severe MH problems and she was asking advice on where to get support for him. Someone replied something like “he’s an adult, it’s none of your business, he needs to look after himself”. Besides showing zero understanding about MH, it was completely unhelpful and therefore pointless to post, and probably left the OP feeling even more helpless than she did before. Hmm maybe it was it you… 🤔

I'm sorry, I do understand the concern about paying back loans and the broader question about whether degrees pay or not... but I'm a bit gobsmacked that you would actively discourage an academic child who is keen to learn from doing so.

Universities are literally designed for kids like this. They open up the potential for a completely new way of looking at the world, a career that they might not have thought of, radically different paths in life. And, post the loans, far more money than they would have if they didn't have a degree.

Yes its expensive, yes it's no longer a guarantee and yes you should caution her on this but why would you limit her in this way?

I know everyone is rightly concerned about the value of degrees and weighing up the value of racking up tens of thousands of pounds' debt for something pointless. But discouraging a bright, driven child from following his or her (sensible and achievable) dreams is taking this too far.

No it's still the same. And even when they do start paying it back, I don't think it's too bad. My son and daughter hardly notice their student loan repayments each month and it doesn't affect their credit rating. Both have managed to buy houses!

Lots of students don't have a career plan when they go to university. She is academic, loves learning and wants to go. It is an experience she might never get again. Yes I know some people do it later in life ...I did that myself ...but it is a very different experience if you wait until life responsibilities crowd in on you. She may well wonder what all the studying was about if she can't/is discouraged from going to university and might grow to resent you when she sees her friends taking this next step or forging ahead with careers later.
Yes it is expensive now and there is a lot of hype about the cost of loans. In actual fact they don't start paying until over a certain pay point and the percentage is not assessed from the whole salary, only what is over the pay point. If jobs fluctuate it stops until they are over the pay point again. Some will gain amazing jobs through going. Others will not. You don't know what she might choose later. My DN ...a high flyer ...did accountancy with one of the big four after her degree and earns mega bucks. My dgd ...not a high academic flyer is going to university to study photography this September. Where will that lead ...who knows but probably not to big earnings but it's what she wants to do. She will eventually have to pay any loan off ...but only when she earns above the threshold. Good luck to her ..and good luck to your DD. I wouldn't be discouraging her ... especially if she is academic. She will probably have an amazing time and over the next three years decide on what direction her degree will take her 🤩

That right the rest of us pay for it

Has your DD actually been to some uni open days herself ?

My friends child graduated this year, lived at home & went to their local uni. They competed a nursing degree. They secured a job in their chosen department.

I agree with others
I enjoyed my degree
I moved away
I made life long friends
I joined lots of social groups at uni
I grew as a person
It was the right choice for me

Suggest that your DD should choose her future

Because you don't have to pay it off.

It's different to other types of debt though as payment is linked to income. If you're ill and unable to work, or work part time for caring, or are in low paid work then you either pay very little or don't pay at all during that period. That's very different to a normal loan where you have a set amount to pay each month regardless.

Psychology is a good degree as it you cover a lot and the amount of. e.g. statistics you do can only doors. The Biology and Neuroscience is a good idea.

Would it help you think of it as a graduate tax? She'll never have to pay it off.

All of my 5 sons went to uni . The last thing I thought about was debt . I was proud that they had passed A levels. They could then apply for 'graduate' jobs which are on many job requirements . This sets them up for life and as a parent you can't do any more.
Unless there is a brilliant apprenticeship then many decent jobs after A levels aren't that easy to find . Uni gives them a bit of independence and gives us parents a bit of freedom .Maybe a course that offers a year in industry might be an option to earn / learn ? Yes - a debt paid out of wages which 4 out of the 5 have paid now in full. I would have loved to have gone to uni .

She’s academic and loves learning and it’s a wonderful way to launch into adulthood, have fun, experience new people and independent living, etc. There are lots of dumb ways to accumulate debt, but a degree doesn’t necessarily need to be one.

But I think she has to have a passion for something and know, to an extent, what she wants to do with her life. If she truly has no clue, then travelling and working for a year might give her some perspective before she dives in.

Realistically, unless she’s going into a trade, she’ll need a university degree. Dh is in a traditional craft, think something like glass blowing, but also has a business degree. His degree is the difference between a little hobby side hustle (which is what a lot of people who do what he does have) and turning over £50k+ a month (which is what he averages).

its not your choice either way to decide. If she didn’t go because of YOUR fear then that’s on you. Leave her to make her own decisions. She can go and work and get into debt too. Most people will have debt of some kind, at least hers will give her an education at the same time. Her life, her choice.