I think the general view and perception on the value of degrees are changing from when many of us were younger. Rightly so.
Many of us were told it’s the next best thing in education and we would need to go in order to get high paying jobs. This simply isn’t true. Numerous people have degrees and aren’t in well paid jobs, saddled with debt. Many people are in high paying roles where they’ve worked their way up (most obvious one being IT Sales. I’ve worked for American companies my whole career. Sales are paid very very highly).
I believe kids are now being made aware of the various paths available and there is much more push on apprenticeships, which often are more valuable. People have so many skills to offer the workplace beyond being Academic.
Uni is no longer simply about “going for the experience” - which many people I knew did and went for the general degree of “business studies”. This was the course everyone took when they wanted to go, but didn’t really know what they wanted to do. I almost opted for that myself. We need to start advising kids that a degree must be useful for it to be worthwhile, due to the costs. Why do we still have so many pointless degree courses? (I’m not suggesting business studies to be totally useless).
I won’t be encouraging my son to go to Uni, unless it’s for a degree he needs for his desired profession.
I did a Law Degree, didn’t enjoy it so didn’t want to work in that field. I’m lucky I’m a higher earner now and paid my loan back - but it’s that, luck. My degree contributed zilch to my current earnings. I worked my way up from entry level. I spent years paying back (not as much as some here as I was on the lower fees pre 2005 and some maintenance loans. I saved those up during the year and paid my parents £200pm to stay living at home. I planned to study Law for 7 years but left after 3 and getting my LLB).
Uni these days often simply isn’t worth it.
As a few have said the loan does impact mortgage - your affordability assessment specifically, as it’s still an outgoing.
Younger generations will all be stuck in a cycle of debt due to the high taxes and high costs everywhere - regardless of earnings. It’s going to be very difficult for anyone to ‘do well’ financially, even if higher earners. House prices are so high nobody buying in the coming years will even make much in equity, so the saying “safe as houses” is also no longer applicable. We are taxed so highly, higher earners will eventually be handing most over or funding pensions as they become ineligible for state pension etc. Schools need to start educating young people on financial management, pensions, mortgages etc. Most of us don’t learn this until we need them, when it’s too late.
Did anyone do general studies at school? Utterly pointless class. Maybe it isn’t a ‘thing’ nowadays. That should have been repurposed to Financial Management class.
Well, that’s me gone off a total tangent….