To ask If your DC think going to university is worth it anymore?

[WhatwouldLyndaSnelldo]

DD is a few years off making this decision so I'm curious to hear if your DC has recently graduated (last few years), are currently at university or planning to go: is it essential for the career they want. Is the "life experience" they have there worth it?

sorry can't bring myself to call it uni

My son is in Y10 and aiming for an engineering apprenticeship aged 17/18. He sees it as a well paid/debt free way to the career he wants. We talked about the absence of long holidays and he says he’d rather have money in the bank to spend on the holiday he really wants. If he does decide university is the way forward then I’ll support that choice too

I don’t think you should discourage your child from university based on the cost.... people work for a long time, better it be in a field they can enjoy.
Yes it’s expensive, but life and happiness is more important.
I never went btw and do not agree with the “uni experience” bull shit, I dont agree with parents paying for dc to get pissed and have a jolly good time, that is what dc should get a job is for. However i do believe university opens doors for some professions and shouldn’t be avoided based on cost if it’s needed for that profession.

My eldest dd28 has got a great job and been promoted with her third pay rise due in April. Her boss said only those with a degree get an interview with his company. Ds 16 is at college and has decided an apprenticeship is what he wants before hopefully joining the navy at 20 . They were both sure of their choices and I had no real sat, though did discuss all possible choices.

DS is incredibly headstrong, and decided aged 15 that he'd do better not going to university.

We had a wobble, but he's 22 in April, with a niche career in a hospitality industry, with a global company that could see him on cruise ships or foreign resorts. He's renting a flat, and generally having a good old time of it. He keeps in touch with friends who did go to university, and feels they're a bit stuffed now. Not only is he debt free, he's actually saving too.

Breaks my heart - WTF was I marching for in 1984 ????

Yes, totally worth it. My daughter is soon to graduate in a career that would be difficult to access without the right graduate-level training. Also, it's been a wonderful life experience. I will encourage my son to do likewise as he is interest in another field where a degree in that subject would be needed.

Not so convinced about degrees in subjects that are totally irrelevant to the career you then go on to follow. E.g. Degree in geography or medieval, history, then immediately get a job in IT support or retail or something else totally unrelated. Not sure the point in racking up a £50k debt in those circumstances, other than for the life experience itself.

My daughter's many many years off yet but I would definitely encourage her to go to university if she wanted to. I went and I really think it broadens your life experience and horizons. And most people have an amazing time too.

Ds is doing his MA, having graduated from his BA last year. He has enjoyed it, and hopefully the MA will lead to a job in his chosen field.

My daughter went to university and didn't enjoy it, mainly because of her course choice. She did graduate though but works in an entirely different field. I suggested she did a post grad in a subject she liked but she'd had enough of studying as she finished 6th year when she was just turned 17 and did a year of college before she went to uni as having been there we felt she was a bit young to start at 17. She went when she was 19. Saying all that, she is glad she did go.

I don't know what my DC think as I don't have any.

I think too many people go to uni and more emphasis needs placing on apprenticeships in many areas. Labour were wrong to push further education at uni as hard as they did. It simply isn't right for everyone.

I think it depends totally on what path your DC are thinking about (although I find a lot of people study one thing but then don't go onto work in that field post-30).

In terms of whether a degree is necessary, I don't think it is these days. Because so many people do them now, it is far less indicative of ability. I didn't go to uni at 18, I got a job. Almost all of my friends went to uni. At 26 I was earning more than any of them, all of whom had degrees.

Depends what they want to do career wise. I have one that’s gone through uni and now has a great career, and one who’s in his first year of a science degree and loving it. It’s definitely worth it for them, but if they were thinking of doing a vague degree with no idea of a career in mind, and just fancy the social life, it may not be worth it. Hard to say at this stage. There are lots of good apprenticeships around these days so it’s not the only way forward.

Both my dc benefitted immensely from their university education but they are both really quite academic. For that group I’d say it’s very much worth it unless they have a talent or ambition that simply doesn’t require degree.

For the less academic who, realistically will end up with a huge debt and a very average job, maybe not. The problem is that they will still be competing with graduates when they apply for those average jobs.

Some degrees are simply not worth having. I totally support the idea of 18-19 year olds simply getting out there and getting started.

It isn't essential for many fields, especially if you can prove other skills like work experience.

However, even the most basic (for want of a better word) jobs often state they need a degree. It seems a fairly common requirement.

I think you do need some sort of further education though, whether that is via uni, apprenticeship or on the job training etc.

I'd also say the experience was very important but that is a personal thing and as above posters say, the getting drunk etc shouldn't be funded by parents!

I went to uni with not much idea of my career path and ended up leaving in my third year. I really wish I had waited and worked for a few years so I could make a better decision on the course I wanted as I tried to go back years later and wasnt entitled to any student loans (despite having paid mine off in full!) I will advise my dc to wait until they are sure 100%

The answer is it depends on the degree and the career they're planning. My stepdaughter did a degree in criminology. After she graduated she decided she really wanted to be a nurse. She's now doing an MSc in nursing which will mean she qualifies as a registered nurse at the end. It would have been much better if she'd done a degree in nursing to start with. As it is she's wasted two years and incurred much more debt than she need. Hindsight has 20/20 vision.

A degree in an established discipline from a good university will always be worthwhile but I think there are a lot of people doing pointless degrees and getting into immense debt who would be better off not bothering.

Stepdaughter's boyfriend did a graphic/media diploma part time while working in a graphic design job. He already earns a very high salary for his age, has no debt and substantial savings. Guess which one's really got off to a better start in life.

I have 2 currently at uni. One is about to graduate with a first and the course has provided amazing opportunities that could not be gained elsewhere, even by many in the field. As an arts subject some may think it was a pointless niche subject but first class graduates do extremely well with exceptionally well paid and relevant jobs. DC is now considering options of internship or masters, both of which have been offered. University has certainly confirmed and flamed a passion and could lead to a career that fulfills and provides a good life.

Second child is currently in first year of uni having taken 3 years out to work. There are still numerous discussions as to whether the degree is really necessary as a military career seems on the cards but then maybe DC needs this time to be footloose and certainly felt they were missing out when sibling was at uni and they were working.

The long holidays aren’t really relevant in our family as both children have worked every holiday in order to supplement their loans and means they don’t work term time and can focus of their studies. They both appreciate the cost and debt and understand that in order to make that worthwhile they need to come out with firsts.

Youngest child is a good few years off yet but I wouldn’t be pushing University education over an apprenticeship it would depend on academic ability, interests and aspirations.

I think if your child has a career in mind that requires a university education, such as medicine, dentistry, architecture, then going there is a necessity. But if they want to have a career in a practical area or some types of specialist engineering, then I think an apprenticeship is a good way forward that pays as you train.

I don’t think people should be put off university because of the cost, but I think it’s wrong to expect that children will automatically go and that they’ve somehow failed if they don’t. There are interesting, useful and valuable alternatives and they should be explored. How many people do you see on here and elsewhere, you have degrees, but haven’t found that it gets them employment, so they have to take whatever they can get? Doing a degree just because you want to go to university and have no idea what to do afterwards is a mistake in my view.

I read about a girl who has qualified as an engineer in a vary sought after area. She’ll always have an interesting and fulfilling job. James Dyson does apprenticeships and I’m sure there are others.

Shhh Depending upon his choices, a degree could be necessary. You couldn't do what my dh did in the Navy without one.

I didn't think it was worth it... Now at 24 having been made redundant 4 times I think it would have been very much worth it as so many employers will not even consider you without a degree.

Sad I know!

My daughter wants to do Classics at Uni. Ultimately she wants a career somewhere in the arts, wants to write (plays, theatre). I'm not sure the degree has to be vocational, it's also about expanding thought which is probably a good thing for a writer.

Ultimately though, she's 9, it may be entirely different in 10 years time.

Dd will hopefully be going in September. I don't think it's necessary for a career in the subject field, but the life experience will be worth it, and a degree is almost always better than no degree. She will work throughout to help pay for it. And it's not debt as we know it, more of a tax really.

I looked into apprenticeships, apart from engineering and skilled trades, they seem like an excuse for cheap labour to me, with no job at the end.

It entirely depends on the child, who they are and what they have in mind.

I see students for whom going to university was absolutely life-changing and students who drop out because they realise it wasn't for them. And plenty more for whom it is simply a qualification they need for their future careers.

Out of my own children, one probably won't go because it's not his thing/not relevant to what he wants to do, the other is desperately trying to get into conservatoire because it would be essential training for her.

Our eldest is in his 1st year of a Bsc and Masters in Chemistry. He's loving it and it is definitely worth it for him. I can see him potentially going on to do a Phd and research. He knew from about Y11 that it was the route he wanted to take.

DD1is far less sure of what she wants to do (Y12) but is leaning more towards the Arts side so may do a foundation course. However, she also loves physical geography, maths and psychology.

DD2 (Y10) is also less sure. Her interests are drama, animals and psychology.

For the girls we are taking a similar approach of don't stress too much now. No decision is written in stone. You can start something, find it's not right and switch direction. As both DH and I have done in the past.

It's the financial planning on our part that is the bigger ball ache!

I’m 25 and went to university. I don’t know anybody who went who regrets it and I’d say 90% of my friends who went are in jobs which require a degree. There’s no way I’d be able to do my job without a degree and it’s what I want to do.

I also know people who did apprenticeships after a-levels and love what they do, there is no one size fits all.

I will say the one person I know who left school after their GCSEs to do an apprenticeship really regrets it. They’re not stuck in a career with very little progression that pays poorly and would need to go back and do A-level to retrain for anything else.

Thanks for replies.

I think we ask young people to specialise too early in many cases. Wish we had something similar to what I believe they have in the US - liberal arts degrees - where students study a range of subjects at university before deciding on their major.

My DNiece spent a year studying history then switched to Biology. That was £9,000 fees and £7,000 loan totally wasted.

Some students are more than ready to specialise and can therefore do a degree in 3 years rather than the 4 years it takes in the States.

dd is off to university this autumn. For her chosen path there isnt another way.