Anyone discouraged kids from university in light of tuition fee rises?

[Officedepot]

In light of uni fees now being £9k per year (so £27k for three year degree) plus living costs students starting uni now would be coming out with debt over £40k

Anyone actively discouraged kids from going to uni on this basis?

I can understand if they are going to a top uni to study medicine or law etc, but AIBU to suggest if they are going to a rubbish uni to do a pointless degree it should be discouraged.

I have lots of friends who did degrees at second rate unis in random subjects and are still earning a tiny amount in their early 30s.......

This is very interesting as I remember when working the large corporate I worked for introduced a policy of " no one without a degree" even for the mst menial of tasks. I didn't have a degree, and when I moved jobs within, my old job was advertised at more money but you had to have a degree. I asked about it and was told I couldn't even apply as I didn't have a degree ( any degree). And I had been doing it with an outstanding appraisal for 2 years!!!

When in London, I was interviewed by a young hr person who looked down her nose at me and wanted to know how I had the experience I did without a degree. I explained "in my day" uni wasn't automatic right but she did tell me that she thought I must have had a crimnal reord not to get in !! What???

For any job there are so many cv's and having a degree and where and what in is just another way sorting them. Although when I used to have to let students work with me on internments, they mostly got very cross about doing menial stuff, like filing on their first day,. One told me he didn't go to uni to file, but as I pointed out to hm, he still couldn't do it. What a mess.... Disorganised, couldnt finish a simple task..late every day,

Someone upthread mentioned the interest rate on uni debt , and the fact that it is compound interest. I think the interest rate should be revised to reflect the current low Bank of England rate, and it should be simple interest, not compound.

I haven't read the whole thread (on my phone and in a rush!) but do people relise that many students will repay less under the new system than the old system because of the raised threshold for beginning to pay money back?

niceguy2 What do you feel constitutes a decent degree, then?

I would define a decent degree as one which has skills which the country is either short of or is predicted to meet future demand.

So for example any business, science, engineering degree in my opinion is worth it. We desperately need better educated employees in high tech industries if we are to compete globally. We cannot compete on low cost. We'll never beat the likes of China for that.

What I think are not decent degrees are the softer subjects such as photography (And I say that as a semi-pro). And believe it or not, forensic sciences. We have plenty of areas which are simply saturated already. Blindly turning out thousands more graduates in areas which we are already swamped with will not help the nation or the graduate.

One good side effect of having to pay is students will think twice about their future earning potential rather than just picking the most interesting course.

I remember a conversation with a lady ages ago who genuinely couldn't why now she'd graduated she wasn't finding job offers at £35k. Aside from the fact you usually have to work for years before getting to that sort of position, she also had graduated with a degree in Art. And as my dad says. "Art? Even if you are good, you only really earn money when you are dead."

Thats the point funnyperson. Any Government, in theory if not in practice, can change its mind at will.
And of you are in hoc [not sure if that is the right word?, obligated?] to the Government, with a large debt, for many many years, everyone needs to proceed with care.
The one thing about it all, is that there has been, in the past at least, some safety in numbers, as the Government wants votes.

aufaniae, what on earth is the point in contributing to a really long thread without reading it, or at least most of it. Of course some students will end up paying little or nothing, but on the other hand, many students will be paying an additional 9% on top of their taxes for many, many years. One of the problems is that we don't know for how many years because of the interest.

Chopchop, no need to be arsey.

So, nice guy, I assume Lit, Philosophy and History are out too?

Are you the boss jenai?

I assume Lit, Philosophy and History are out too

Or we could go back to the days when only the toffs got to study them. That would be nice

No, but they're not soft options. All are essential, including for things other than teaching.

Surely nobody can seriously think that history,English lit and philosophy are "soft" subjects?!

Yes,obviously everybody should only do vocational degrees that benefit the state,not the public

And re art niceguy my friend did an art degree. Graduated last year and has even before graduating been gaining increasing recognition. Holding exhibitions, being interviewe by local press,selling work. She might not be earning 35k but she is a successful new graduate by any stretch of the imagination. Good thing her parents didn't think like you!

The key question Dawndonna is how many graduates are we producing each year, do we have the jobs for those students in that area or is it an area where the government are planning to grow the economy?

For those three subjects you listed I'd guess there are not many jobs requiring that skill nor are we moving in that direction.

We need smaller companies which are innovating like Apple with new ideas which can be patented and manufactured elsewhere cheaply. ARM is a great example but most people haven't heard of them.

We need to be investing in growth markets and be on the leading edge of new technologies such as green technologies. All those in my opinion require science graduates, engineering graduates and those with business skills to turn it into marketable products.

Of course there are places for history/literature and philosophy graduates but my point is that there are very few jobs in comparison. So why churn out far more candidates than the economy can handle?

The Labour government did an entire generation a great disservice by propagating the myth that if you don't go to university then you are stupid whilst at the same time introducing tutition fees. Oh whilst continuing Thatchers legacy of dismantling British industry.

How they must have laughed to see the massive influx of cash cows young people flocking to universities.

Contrary to the advice form most on here, DD1 went to university because she had no idea what she wanted to do as a job/career, and it meant three more years before she needed to decide.

That is partly why I went - there didn't seem to be any alternatives other than dead end jobs with no training on offer. I did do a 'solid subject' at red brick univeristy though.

I'm surprised so many young people in this area do seem to find jobs that they can and do progress along - though there are a lot of small family firms in the area that some join or join family friends firms.

Mind you the unemployment rate especially among the young in the area is very high - high number of NETTS.

Because those graduates, being churned out into our society are the ones that comment on society. They are as important as your engineers.

From what I have seen locally, there has been a mad, headlong rush into "vocational" degrees recently. Every other kid you meet wants to do "Law". There is going to be a horrible glut of "lawyers" in a few years' time.

I'm not particularly anti Golf Course Studies or Festival Studies (yep, it really exists) as presumably anyone studying these would go and work in those industries.

But I can't understand what the point is of studying for an English or History degree at one of those former further education colleges. I would dare to suggest that one's fellow students might not be of the highest calibre and for that reason I would advise ds to aim for top 5 or not bother.

You can comment on society without any of those degrees. It's stupid to go to uni for three years+, put all that effort in if you stand practically no chance of getting a decent job in that particular field at the end of it. You may as well have not bothered and gone straight into working in another field instead.

My degree is costing me zilch infact the grant I get paid gives me money. It costs £1350 for the whole degree and I get £1650 grant.

This is because I done my hnd for free with a charity and this is a top up of the final year.

There are others ways to do your degree without paying lots.

No, it's stupid to state on an internet thread that you can comment on society without a degree. Nobody's listening nice guy. No fucker.
Funny, people do/did listen to Russell, Strawson, et al.
Literature changes things. One flew over the cuckoo's nest being one example.
These are the people we need to shape society and keep it's moral compass going.
Having said that, it's somewhat up the creek at the moment, but eventually, it's the philosophers etc that will get it back on track.

Eh?

Are you suggesting all authors and philosophers have degrees?

I have to say Dawndonna , NiceGuy2's posts are making a lot more sense than yours.

Philosophy is a soft subject

In my first year I had 7 hours a week

It didn't really get much more taxing

Then I did a Psychology degree which was harder as I fecking hate all forms of maths and there's a lot of stats. It got more interesting when I did neuroscience

But philosophy was a soft degree IMO and IME :)

Letty oh no not in a few years,it's happening now with Law.

Everyone trots out "everyone will always need solicitors" - yes...not untrained ones though.

I fell for that one. I know better now.

Which of those areas are you working in now catgirl? Or are you combining them in some way?