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.......

There's no argument that arts and social science degree courses need to remain but the places for these have been massively expanded by the last labour government to the point the labour market does not have graduate level jobs for all these graduates. If my dc wanted to do an arts or social sciences degree I would advise them to pick a Russell group university, a course with a proven track record and to check the employment destinations of recent graduates.

A good arts/ social science degree from a Russell group university will still stand you in good stead to get a graduate level career especially if you demonstrate you have other employable skills.

Hi cat girl - curious to know what you do now? I did a philosophy and theology degree at oxford then a psychology degree (I found psychology easier as more predictable and got a first!) I'd intended to retrain as a psych but I think I'll end up teaching.

I was under the impression that traditional degrees such as history, English etc were prefered by many graduate recruitment schemes over business studies. I'm over 10years out of date though. Fellow history/ theology students ended up on grad schemes at IBM, government fast track etc.

None of them amillion

Academically, neither of my degrees has made a big difference to my career I don't think if I'm honest

But I still feel going to uni was very worthwhile

The Government, I think yearly, publishes a list of jobs that are in demand in this country. It may be connected to, who can emigrate to this country and do them?
I keep an eye on it from time to time.

I now work in senior management within energy trading...............slight diversion

I didn't get a first in either giraffe too much partying :( 2:1's all round - how funny we almost have exactly the same qualifications! (although no first for me and no Oxford)

A first from Oxford would always impress me on a CV

I am always amazed how some people cross over into different things.
You dont have to answer my next question if you dont want to.
How did you end up where you have??

Well done! You got further than me though, I started off teaching, then thought about retraining and now expect I'll go back to teaching. I'll certainly be encouraging my girls more than I was. I hadn't a clue about careers until after several years teaching!

(My psychology degree wasn't Oxford, so not an Oxford first! )

And yes - sorry to derail a little, but not everyday I meet a fellow philosopher-psychologist!

I fell into it really

Was messing about a bit after uni with no real direction

Took a low / medium level role within the company 8 years ago (largely administrative) got lucky with a very good mentor (one of the partners who had a plan to retire and trained me up on a lot of stuff outside my role to make it easier for him to leave)

Have worked my way up over the last 8 years, got involved with as many areas of the business as I could and have done a couple of professional qualifications in different areas of the business (eg CIM qualification in marketing, CIPD qualificaiton on the HR side) so that I could move sideways as well as up Managed to go from mid-level admin to board level in 8 years through hard graft and luck combined

I'd say from experience in the field that graduates who have done a decent placement during the course are many times more likely to get a job at the end than those who have sat on campus for three years. I think that really makes a CV stand out, when someone has this kind of experience and is able to relate that to the job they are applying for.

Also picking a degree course where you develop high level numeracy skills as well as literary/essay based ones is another clever move. Education graduates do pretty well because their courses involve understanding numerical data as well as being able to write high quality research reports, and act as trainers when necessary. These seem to be highly marketable skills in the present climate - you don't have to go into teaching.

I have two degrees (Physics, and Early Years Education) and work in neither field (I'm a storyteller and short story author). I feel my University experience has been worthwhile though, as it helped me build a network, and developed my critical thinking skills. I will encourage my DCs to go to university, I have saved their child benefit to use for their living costs, and am on course to have paid off the mortgage by the time my eldest is 18.
I hope by then the situation will have settled a little, market forces will reduce the cost (and range) of courses, and I will be able to use the money to help them in other ways.

We sould start a little club giraffe

Although it may just be us in it!

I have a science degree and early years and teaching qualifications too SpareTime - am jealous of your lovely sounding work though
I love stories !
Sounds like you are well prepared regarding your DC's too.

Hmm, when I think about the course that I did to be in my current profession, it is a 4 year course which would cost £36K in fees alone. The max wage for the profession is around £48K....that is after a good 10 years or more in the job.
Doesnt look good on paper.

Niceguy, one of the issues I have with British Isles bachelors degrees (especially in the arts and humanities but perhaps in science too) is the narrow focus of studies on whatever subject the student is reading. DD1, who graduated with a degree ostensibly in economics in the US did science (biology, chemistry and physics) and maths courses (beyond calculus) along the way, with two languages (French and Persian) and some arts/humanities and social science subjects (philosophy, psychology, history) and fine arts, none at an introductory level. Even people in her year who came out with degrees in 'history' were recruited by investment banks, consulting firms, government departments, and went on to medical school and law school. DS, who is coming up to half way through his four year bachelors degree in the US has 'general education' requirements to fulfill (arts and humanities and at least one language course) on top of his major in biology and minor in chemistry. When you force all students to perform well across a broad curriculum you end up with third level education that serves both the community and the graduates.

And you don't get the silly philosopher vs. mathematician opposition that you find in Britain, or the tedious conversations that ensue about which is more valuable to society.

BoffinMum, I think your plan for your DS is the way to go and if you haven't discovered already, US universities' financial aid offices are pretty straightforward to deal with and are well used to crunching tax, income and asset information from overseas families.

wow, that is some list!
I always thought it was quite beneficial to specialise somewhat, but now am not so sure.
What proportion of US students do the 4 year bachelors degree?
It cant be the 50% surely?

I think more and more people will have to consider the value for payment. In my job, financially, you don't get much of your money back. Its not such a good investment.

By the way, many UK unis are considering the fast track 2 year degree system in an effort to gain enrolments. (Having lost a consierable amount)

In all honesty, I hope we move away from the American mentality by the time mine are considering this sort of thing. I'm all for learning for the love of it, or learning for a specific industry, but this idea that you must be mentally substandard because you didn't go to university is just bonkers.

I did what was essentially an apprenticeship - getting paid less than minimum wage while the firm I worked for paid for my studies. I would definitely like to see more such schemes available. Looking at friends who started working straight from school (I faffed around with uni for a couple of years and hated every unbearably lonely minute) - they were able buy houses, have families and just start the awesome parts of life so much sooner.

The life experience part of university is such BS. You can get smashed and join social/sports/political clubs at any stage of life.

I think that the fees make perfect sense. If you're learning for fun, you should pay for the fun. If you're learning for a better career, it's taken effectively as a tax. Why should someone starting an unskilled job straight from school pay for your improved career options?

Boffinmum's plan is beyond hilarious - I am assumimg some kind of joke? (And a good one). Otherwise - sheesh! Talk about manipulative, not to mention short-sighted - baning on the German gvt will keeping feees at that level, but even if they did - suppose the poor kids want to do a specific course somewhere else - just tough on them - eh? Can't believe some of the controlling parents on this thread - not likely to end well

What a crazy post MrsSalvano.
Parents who pay the fiddler don't get to call the tune?

Amillionyears, if you do a BA or BS in the US it is a four year course unless you are some sort of prodigy who can do it in three (rare).

Some figures on overall numbers, focusing also on science and engineering.

You can do an Associates Degree at a community college that takes two years and transfer your credits to a four year university, finishing your final two years and graduating from the university. The big advantage of doing it that way is cost, but you are restricted in choice of university when it comes to transfer time.

Second guessing the dc future is very sad - poor kids, and second-guessing the german gvt policies is lunacy sadly deluded.

How old are your DC MrsSalvo?

And you appear to be a new poster on MN
hmmm