I am unsure if to whether I should my son to go to uni next year

[Socrossrightnow]

Ds is having a Gap year and received 4 offers for next year, but he is now having a major wobble due to the amount of debt. He wants to do a business management degree. Just wanted to know if anyone else’s child has recently decided not to go and if so what they have decided to do instead. I’m worried that he won’t ever get the same earning potential if he doesn’t have degree but equally worried about level of debt.

I'm stressing about this too. DS will be living at home working PT, with just a short train journey which cuts down the cost a bit. He doesn't drink either. I didn't realise until this week that student loans aren't interest free though, I could have cried when I found out.

Apprenticeships are basically like gold dust so they're out of the question.

My eldest didn't go to uni, she started an apprenticeship at 18 at one of the big four. She is now a manager at the age of 23 earning about £65k. And has no debt. Career path wise there is no reason why she can't progress to very senior roles.

Another friend's DD also left school at 18 and did an apprenticeship at a bank. Now a VP a a major investment bank at the age of 25, again with no debt

So it can be done and the career paths are there. However it is very competitive to get on the apprenticeship programs.

We're just in the looking stage for dt. Dc1 decided not to go but went into a career with ability to get an education paid for. Has completed a foundation degree (while working) and would like to top up but unfortunately theres a job freeze on in that sector so is presently stuck. But doesn't regret the path they are taking.
Dt1 has decided that to get the qualification needed they need a degree and therefore university is a necessity. The sector they want to train in has limited apprenterships and they dont want to leave home.
Dt2 is struggling to make a decision, they need a degree (ideally masters) to do what they want however dont want the debt. Current thinking is a degree apprenticeship, next is a university commutable from home and worse case scenario a university away from home. But dt2 is definitely concerned about the debt aspect.
I think it depends on the career /degree they have in mind. What are the potential benefits of that career? Are these outweighed by the debt? I know of someone just completed a journalism degree and can't get a graduate job. I wonder if ai is reducing this sector and therefore was it as worthwhile a degree as 20 years ago? I think not regrettably.

@Socrossrightnow can he accept the offer and defer, then use the year to apply for apprenticeships knowing he has a uni place to fall back on? For business careers I'd say apprenticeships would be more worthwhile and not as rare as gold dust as such.

It is more like a graduate tax than traditional debt.

Student loans are just like an additional tax. I don't even think about mine. It's just taken out of my wages. It's unlikely my take-home pay would be what it is now without the degree, so it was definitely worth it for me. Is your DS aware of the repayment terms?

TBF choices for 18 years old are not great at the moment.

Job opportunities are not great, apprentices scheme are limited and Uni degrees may not open the doors as they once did.

If the DC is academic, studying something they enjoy, will apply themselves and chose a Uni with good career outcomes, it's likely to be worth it in the long term.

I wouldn't encourage any young person who scraps A level results and doesn't have a passion for their subject to go.

My ds had the same wobble , it's completely reasonable.

I've promised my ds that I will cover his loan repayments until he is on a decent salary, and then we'll look at how we pay it back, as a team. I haven't let him down yet and he knows that.

Talk your ds through the repayment structure in real £ terms.

I think it's a safer option to go for a degree, but make sure it is a good one, that opens doors.

He also need a plan to find internships etc so that he graduates with some work experience (ideally in the area he wants to work in, or at least admin work in an ltd).

He can always apply for apprenticeships too, but they're very hard to get, and you'll have more chances in graduate programs.

That said, my husband doesn't have a degree and still progressed to a really good 65k manager role, just by making the right choices and expanding his qualifications through work.
We also regularly recruit people without uni degrees in my company, but generally for admin roles. It's a good entry role, a few have progressed quite well to other areas of the business (if they wanted to).

The reality though is that by not having a degree, you automatically starts lower on the pay scale, more junior roles, admin roles etc. There is nothing wrong with it, but takes a lot longer to climb the ladder.

I earn about twice as much as my husband, but he started working 5 years before me. A lot of it his due to the doors my degree opened, my entry role as analyst paid twice as much as his.

It is but it’s awful to have it your whole career, particularly if you do well and are a higher earner. I’ve still got 10 years left on mine, and the new graduates coming in have many more years of it than I did. They pay back smaller amounts on their plan but every time there’s a pay rise or a bonus a large chunk goes to student loan and repayments get exponentially higher. I wouldn’t be encouraging my DC to go to uni now unless they have a direct path to a well paid career, or we can pay a big % towards it so they don’t have the huge debt.

As pp say you absolutely can climb the ladder (especially if any professional qualifications are involved) but it might take a bit longer. Equally it gives you plenty of time and opportunity to figure out what jobs/industries are for you and which really are not.

I'm an accountant, so is DH, and we earn the same. I don't have a degree I did an apprenticeship (an old school one) but we both did ACA and now we are in the same place.

I earn £45k a year and pay back £125 a month. I don't even think about it.

My DD has five unconditional offers for Business Management and is also on a gap year saving money. I was very much in the "you don't need uni" camp even though I went to uni before she had her A Level results but on reflection there isn't a lot here for here, her offers are contextual which is great but is mainly because the jobs around us while plentiful are from the local designer outlet shopping village.
She's not the only one, there is a bigger cohort going from last year too who are underwhelmed by the limited options. Many applying for degree apprenticeships and not hearing back. Just because someone close to some people I know had a lucky break doesn't mean everyone will get that break.
I'm also at risk of redundancy myself and am applying for jobs. I've never needed to mention my degree before ow however I'm now been asked what degree and what final result.

Has he looked at a degree apprenticeship? Some companies offer this, where you can start as a school leaver but through the process of work earn a recognise degree.

The current student loan plan (but not some of the previous ones) has interest which is pretty much the rate of inflation (not quite, because it is not updated every month). So although interest is added, the value of the loan in terms of "baskets of shopping" should stay around the same. There was a period when student loans were subjected to an interest rate pegged above the rate of inflation; those did grow faster, and there's good reason why that generation of students feel aggrieved.

For students who never earn enough to pay the entire loan off, it actually makes no difference how much interest is added, as the amount they pay off depends on their earnings, not the size of the loan.
For students who do earn enough to pay it all off before the end of the term, the amount of interest will affect when they finish paying (but not how much they pay each year).

When do you apply for these jobs out of interest - just after A' Level results day or should they be showing willing by applying after mocks?

I don’t see it as debt. It’s just a bit of money that comes off my salary each month.

I never went to uni, got pretty average GCSE’s and poor A-levels and now on 6 figure earnings. My ex H was the same, my current partner is also a high earner. None of us have been to uni. I’ve worked my way through jobs; learning new skills and moving into different roles that have moved me up as I go, sometimes gaining qualifications paid for via work or myself. as someone who has also done a lot of recruitment, I don’t look at degrees; I look for experience . I don’t believe uni gives you any advantage anymore. I would always encourage my children to go for apprenticeships or get into the workplace as soon as possible & work your way up.