AIBU to feel that some parents just want their children at Uni even if its a BS degree

[DistinguishedSocialCommentator]

Hello
I come from a background/culture where education is seen as very important and going to a university is a must (My parents came to England in 1962)

Yes, more and more jobs are seeking degrees and often even when not necessary. There are many professions where you must have a degree to join the course training

However, what I and my family call BS degrees, to name but a few

Arts
Studio Fine arts
Arth History
Business studies
Exercise Science
Fashion

I cant see what jobs they will get as there must be other routes, less intensive and extensive to get the job they want

When I've talked about mickey-mouse degrees at parties etc and not be aware that some parents children or they may have studied them, they start to defend the indefensible.
The biggest bS degree is 'Politics' - WTH!! Sadly, we know a few people whose children have done that and ended up running the family shop/business - total waste of a degree

There are other degrees just as crappy - they should be banned IMO

AIBU to think these degrees are a waste of time and often do not aid the person into a job in that field?

I was going to put that until I saw your post 😊

Honestly, the teenagers I used to speak to about student finance grasped it quicker than this.
Although, I suspect it's more of an attempt to trip me up 🤷🏼‍♀️

Ah listen, all the OP has done throughout is demonstrate their ignorance!

Oh op, do tell, what is your course of study?

BA girl here…. With the dreaded politics along with sociology & economics.

currently a chief operating officer of a significant business group.

id say that a degree in the arts subjects teaches you a wider perspective of the world & makes you challenge the status quo. It creates a deeper understanding of what is & is not working well in society. In my experience it helps you find a career where you can have a positive impact on the society you live in.

A degree in itself is largely only achievable through learning skills around discipline, self control & team work, all of which help manage priorities & workload in the workplace.

Sorry but what is FM? OP keeps using it and I can’t work it out!

It's either Fanny Magnet or Frequent Mumsnetter.

Or fucking motherfucker?

(And I now have a specific song stuck in my head - but it’s by an arts graduate, so not worth posting here!)

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator Your written and comprehension skills are incredibly poor. I really couldn't recommended doing an English degree because you're clearly well below the level of ability that 'BS arts degree' would require, but perhaps you might benefit from studying at GCSE level. With some work you might the able to achieve a pass grade.

I was wondering that 😂
I didn't dare ask!

You sound like you have led a very sheltered life and have no clue what you are talking about. Maybe jealousy has got the best of you? If you were happy with your own life, you wouldn't care so much about what other people are doing. Stay in your own, uneducated lane and you will be okay.

Forum Member. The OP appears to have imported this from whatever online space previously had the honour of hosting them.

If you told your 16 yo that anything other than a STEM subject or vocational degree was "a mickey mouse degree" then you're pushing them to study something YOU consider worthwhile, although what criteria you're using seem arbitrary to say the least.

Forum Member. The OP appears to have imported this from whatever online space previously had the honour of hosting them.

Ah okay. Makes sense .... kind of!

Well, an arts degree would have helped with the many - and basic - grammatical errors in the original post. For someone so highly educated being remiss with fundamentals does not reflect well on that intellect you're so keen to show off.

Amen to this! (With my snivelling, shameful business degree)

I agree that their view is weird but for the love of god stop saying everything is jealousy. It rarely is. It can be so many other things.
Ignorance
Stupidity
A dislike of something

When it is jealousy it's pretty obvious. This doesn't sound even remotely jealousy fuelled.

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator gosh, you sound like you've a jam packed life full of success and happiness, how did you find the time to dissect degrees you imagine are for air heads .... I don't think this is what was meant by intelligent minds discuss ideas.
Enough attention for one day. Happy weekend and good luck x

I did a Business degree specialising in Marketing, got a place on a graduate scheme with a large corporation in their Marketing department, went on to have a career in Marketing ending up a CMO on six figures and lecturing in Marketing for the CIM.

Would you agree my Mickey Mouse degree was the catalyst for a successful career in the field?

Annoyed I've even posted on this completely ridiculous thread 🤣

I agree with you OP that too many people are going to uni to get a degree that doesn't have much meaning that they'll party their way through, from a university no one has ever heard of, to then end up working at a call centre.

That's not to say of course that these courses should all be scrapped - but people need to think carefully about them and be sure they are good enough to take them where they want to go. I know people who have ended up in call centres after doing degrees and I also know people who have done what you'd call a mickey mouse degree and side stepped into completely unrelated serious careers. It does come down somewhat to the individual.

The thing is, as you say OP, now even jobs that don't really require a degree want applicants to have a degree - and because there are so many people with degrees they can be that unreasonable. So then if you don't have a degree you can't even get a job that doesn't really need a degree.

If you're saying that the answer is far more level 3, 4 and degree apprenticeships then I also agree with you there.

Thank you
I don't know if NVQ's stand these days or if they have gone belly up but I did a level 5 - I found it easy and initially felt it was a useless waste of time, but it correspond to the work I'f been doing for years. The company/council paid for this whilst we worked and had a reduced caseload and time off to participate and study. These were replaced with something else as I was leaving work.

In my judgment, go for a degree where jobs are readily available. Go for a degree that may help you I several lines of work. But as I said and the FM I've quoted, so employers are just asking for degrees even though they are not required.

There is a time ad place for degrees just like there is a time to avoid a degree for the sake of a degree that bashes you down with a debt of 30k or more and possislbly no job at the end of it and even for months/years or ever.

If you want a good degree or a worthless degree, pick your uni carefully and consider how you will repay your debt

IMO, if you are really bright, most good employers will not that and offer to train you up to a higher level job and pay you as you do this.

The choice is yours.

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator repayment of the loan is like a tax so any income over the threshold (which varies depending on starting date of your degree) and then increases up roughhly at around £8 a month per 1000 you earn over the threshold. So a 5000 salary increase would mean paying back £40 more a month. Any bonuses you receive are also tax as well so a 5000 bonus would mean roughly 400 taken off to pay the loan.

if you earn under the threshold you never pay it back.

NVQ and GNVQ are gone it is currently BTEC though t levels are at some point coming in

another problem though is a very changes job market - my area isn’t the only one that has offshored a lot of jobs to India and shut down UK offices. Meaning moving to freelance

media though is an interesting one as with influencing/you tubers etc being something so many want to do bowadays

Hello

Thank you for making it very clear, appreciated.

One question re what you posted and I quote
"if you earn under the threshold you never pay it back."

Is that you "never pay it back" as long as you are under that threshold? If so has the threshold been frozen? If that is the case with inflation as it is ad may go hyper again along the line, that means they will have to pay it back as anyone and everyone will be earning loads more due to inflation

Thanking you in advance.

OP, genuinely, do you ever actually listen? Do you consider other people’s opinions might be equally valid? Do you ever socialise outside your family, with people who disagree with you, and/or with people with considerably more education than you? Do you travel, and experience places where they do everything differently?

Is that you "never pay it back" as long as you are under that threshold? If so has the threshold been frozen? If that is the case with inflation as it is ad may go hyper again along the line, that means they will have to pay it back as anyone and everyone will be earning loads more due to inflation

It is correct that you will never pay it back if you earn below the threshold. The threshold isn't frozen and is set each year.
The threshold amount is different depending on what plan you are on ( determined by when you started your studies and what country you live in).
Loans are written off after a certain time period - again depends on the type of loan you have but could be 30 years, 40 years, aged 65.
If you die before you've paid back your loan it isn't passed on to your family (essentially it dies with you).

Oh and you pay back 9% of whatever you earn over the threshold which is why the figure for someone earning 30k is so low.

Ok, thank you.

TBH, I'm surprised its not frozen, but it is what it is, thanks.