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.......

[cinnamonnut]

I agree, stupid comment.

[AmberSocks]

I wouldnt encourage university unless it was a career which they absolutley must have degrees for,like a doctor or something.Otherwise i dont see the point,i know learning is fun and enriching and all of that,but i dont see why people cant do that outside of university,for example if one of my children really wanted to do art i would encourage them work on their own art instead and actually focus on being an artist (or doing something artistic) instead of just doing an art degree (then realising its useless so just becoming an art teacher which is what everyone i know who has done an art degree has done!)

[Alligatorpie]

I have every expectation that my dd's will go to university ( or do some skills based training, depending on their interests and academic ability) They are 6 and 6 months now and we save monthly in an education fund for them.

I come from a family of people with degrees, dh is the only person in his family to have one (two)

My pil have said their gc, my dn (22) will never be able to go, because of the cost now. I have tried to talk to them, but they don't see education as an investment and its not my problem to tackle. I think it's sad though.

[Crinkle77]

When I went to uni it was free and you still got grants. I did my degree in politics and sociology and it didn't really get me anywhere but as we weren't paying you took it for granted and didn't really think about it. I agree with OP that unless you are doing something like nursing, teaching, law where you need a degree to enter a profession then I would not bother. I would say that many of my friends who didn't go to uni but got jobs instead are doing better as they were gaining experience in the workplace. When I left uni I found that I had all these great qualifications but no experience and found it difficult to get a job. I couldn't even start at the bottom and work my way up because many employers did not want to know thinking that i would just leave in a few months

[Yorkpud]

Depends on the child I think. I would only encourage them to go if they have a set career path that uni would be beneficial to. I think a lot of unis will end up closing as a result of the increased fees.

[JenaiMorris]

I might suggest to ds that he goes to St Andrews in order to find a wealthy suitable wife. I've been teaching him to cook - he makes a very good carbonara for example, which is an excellent and appealing alternative to a post-pub kebab. What other qualities will he need (other than cash), bearing in mind he's not particularly sporty so won't be a rugger bugger?

[JenaiMorris]

I don't give a stuff whether university gets you a better job tbh, or even if it makes you better at your job (it does, but that's only imo).

Worst case scenario, university is fun and a jolly good use of three/four years of your youth, before you have to knuckle down and deal with boring, boring jobs for the rest of your life.

Best case, it is fun and a jolly good use of three/four years of your youth, before you go and make a living doing something you love.

People who focus solely on the career aspect know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

[TrazzleMISTLEtoes]

Crinkle you don't need a degree to be a lawyer. (Though it is much faster if you do).

[Hopeandbluebells]

I have a degree from a lower tier university related to what I do now, but the degree isn't actually needed to do the job IYSWIM. Everyone has o start at the bottom regardless of whether they have a degree or not and you work your way up. That said, I am still glad I did my degree, even though I'm aware it looks like a waste of time on paper- I think the grounding a degree gives you is an advantage going out into the world of work if its in a related subject, regardless of whether it's actually specified or not.

[Snorbs]

So far I've been giving my DCs the impression that most people go to university and that they might as well assume that they will too. In reality and given it's a few years off before we have to start considering it for my eldest, I really don't know what the situation will be. I'd like them to go but I'm not going to force them.

I work at a university and they currently offer a 50% discount on fee costs for children of staff members. Whether my DCs will want to go there is another matter and I'm not convinced my DS has a clue what he wants to do. And what the fees structure, grant/loan criteria and admission criteria will be in 2017 is another thing entirely.

[Jamillalliamilli]

Snorbs is that standard as far as you know, and does staff mean any kind of worker, or only degree educated type positions, please?

[herethereandeverywhere]

ImperialBlether I think you misunderstood my post (or indeed I made my point badly!)

I'm not disputing the credentials of the University or the validity of the application process - I'm talking about the reason behind choosing a particular establishment/course (assuming you have the required grades to grant you that choice). There have been well documented "rumours" that St Andrews was chosen as Kate and her mother fancied a pop at becoming royalty - I have no idea whether it's true or not but if you look at how Pippa's tried to cash in on the royal connections recently it's not inconceiveable.

My fear is some women will not be choosing to educate themselves and grant themselves financial independence, they will choose the seek out a partner to "protect" them from the financial risks of doing a degree and having a family during your fertile years. Look how Kate was applauded on her wedding day for turning round her "humble beginnings" - choosing to marry a rich man is still a valid option in our society. Prioritising finding a financially secure partner over an independent career could be easily argued as the sensible option under the current fee regime. And the choice of marrying into money is similar for men but not the same as having children does not adversely impact career progression for men in the same way as it does for women.

TBH I wish someone had been open and honest with me about the clash between career opportunities and fertility - throwing £40k debt and inability to buy my own home into the equation may well have swayed my decision on what/where and whether to study.

Re:application for mortgage, the student loan repayment will be treated as any other financial outgoing so yes, it will be taken into account just like utility bills etc.

[buttercrumble]

No not at all we have twins going to uni in september, and we are stoney broke .But we will work our butts off and live on jam and bread, if it means they have better opportunities than we had....

[MrsHoarder]

Jenai, how is he at golf?

On a serious note, the current first years will be better off than I am in terms of repayments, hardly anyone pays off their loan at the moment so it doesn't matter how high it is, it is paid off as a % of income over £20k (currently £15k) and written off after a certain amount of time.

We will save to help DS start his career and his own home though, however he chooses to do it. But in the very unlikely event that the system hasn't changed by the time he gets there we would give it to him as a house deposit because that will help far more than reducing his loan a bit.

[cuillereasoupe]

The smart thing to do is make sure your kids learn a foreign language, then pack them off to study abroad. Degrees are still basically free / very cheap in much of Europe, and you broaden your horizons at the same time.

[JenaiMorris]

Hesterton, because the fun isn't just about going out and getting drunk or watching daytime TV or any other of the cliches; it's about be able to study something you love (even if some of the lectures are a bit dull) surrounded by others with a shared interest.

MrsH - I'll work on the golf

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

TBH i would still prefer if the DDs went, but I wouldn't encourage them to do what I did, which was go at 18, and do a philosophy degree for the fun of it, without a thought for what it would lead to.

i would be happier for them to work for a couple of years, have a good think about what they enjoyed and were good at work-wise, and then do a degree with this in mind at 22 or something. it's not so much the fees as the three or four years spent out of the job market while others get valuable work experience. I know a large number of people who started degrees between 22 and 30 (including a surprisingly large number of doctors). the delay doesn't seem to have held them back, and their focus and experience has been beneficial.

However, as i will not be in a position to help with fees the decision will ultimately be theirs

[FredFredGeorge]

JenaiMorris I think the assumption that you have to "knuckle down and deal with boring, boring jobs for the rest of your life" is very sad. Yes university is fun - but tbh I had more fun the years I spent 6-9months working 3-6 months off, I had significantly more money, I got to spend my time in a much wider range of places with a wider range of people than the university time.

I'm also very happy in my job (which I didn't need to go to university for, indeed the course which was in a related subject was actually enough to prevent me entering the career for 2 years post university while I regained an interest in it) so now I've stopped the Contract/Fun cycle I still really enjoy it - as well as enjoying the family life.

The solution to a boring job is not to spend a few years at university creating memories to get you through it - it's finding something you enjoy enough that it's not boring!

[AmberSocks]

education isnt only available in an institution,just because you dont go to uni doesnt mean you cant be educated.

also,mostof the people who work for dh went to uni doing various things,and couldnt get a job at the end of it so now they are scanning books for £6 an hour,a degree doesnt guarantee you a job anymore.

personallyi hope my kids are like their dad and have enugh motivation,determination and entrepreneurial spirit to start their own businesses,you can either make your own dreams come true,or someone will pay you to make theirs.

[BackforGood]

I agree with a poster back on about P3, who said, the difficulty is, jobs that relatively intelligent, capable 18 yr olds could get, and then make good progress with back some 30 yrs ago, don't seem to exist anymore. That is as big an issue for us as the fees. We've been trying to look for any kind of options for my ds - who is intelligent, but not especially interested in academic life / actually studying (I don't think this is at all atypical for teenage boys, tbh, at the risk of you all calling me sexist). He's doing A-levels, but not 100% convinced he wants to go to university and {his words} "start life with a load of debt". The only other route seems to be engineering type apprenticeships, which isn't something he's at all interested in. There don't seem to be the jobs in banking, insurance, sales, retail, etc.,etc until you have a degree.

PS - I went to a talk for parents offered by my local University, to 'bust' some of the myths about finance, and they said, much to the distress of the Daily Mail their Golf Management Degree had 100% employment record for people going into graduate jobs..... but I digress!