To think that if you are university educated then give up your career...

[KingRolo]

...you should have to pay back the university fees?

I know several SAHMs who have degrees and professional qualifications but have no intention of returning to their old jobs. Some of them only worked for a couple of years before giving it all up.

I know two men who trained to become doctors and then soon after qualifying left to backpack round Australia.

That's fine, it's a free world, but the tax payer paid for these people to spend years in full time education. And for what?

So is it fair that 18 year olds (or their parents) have to pay huge tutition fees when people who were lucky enough to benefit from free education then decide not to use it?

Maybe I'm being U but it does annoy me a bit!

I'm talking about people who have no intention to return to work - and in my OP I mention backpacking male doctors, not just mums.

The main point is to ask if it's fair that this generation are having to find £££ to go to university when people who got it all for free (and there were no fees and free grants up to £3000 a year until the mid-90s)aren't using it, and are never going to use it.

YABU. I'm one of those SAHMs who stopped working despite having a university education.

And five years later I will be working again very soon, and I have 30 years or so of working life ahead of me - I think I will be paying enough taxes!

Nop Otter not OTT at all

I particualrly detest people who got their Uni ed for free bleating on about how costs should be raised- I may well consider in depth if it comes from someone who paid, or who does not have a degree, but otherwise it just grates badly.

Universitiy is more than just a degree- I went as a mature student but do think life would have ben somewhat better if I had ahd access to that'supported adult' environment, it's a useful transition to gain lifeskills in a safer environment. It also did wonders for my confidence which would have been nicer at 18 than 32.

To be fair on King Rollo though she did mention two male doctors - so it's not a gender thing.

When I was 16ish I fully intended to follow pretty much the path my parents had taken - 3 year BSc, 3 year PhD, postdoc, lecturer with a glamorous sideline in TV science presenting. I'd pick up a nice professional bloke along the way, probably at university. Then I'd have a couple of kids and no doubt be very bored during maternity leave, so I'd do an Open university degree in about 6 months and change career to something more child-friendly in terms of working pattern/hours (teaching, I thought).

Every single one of those assumptions was wrong from the point I started the PhD. Both my degrees were fully funded by the taxpayer (pre fees) and since leaving university I have worked in central government. Aside from bar jobs and a brief industrial placement, my income is pure tax. OP I feel so guilty, please help me, when can I ever repay my debt to society, because I haven't used my degree in the science itself?

I think certain degrees should have some conditions attached, i.e. if you train as a doctor or a teacher you should not be allowed to work in private practice for a period of time - say five years.

But to suggest people who don't follow their degree should pay back their fees is just completely narrow-minded. Where would you stop? Perhaps suggest that children who don't get a job after leaving school should pay back all the money that was put into their education?

(parents aren't on telly btw, I added that bit)

DoNotPress - I'm with you on the people who got their uni ed for free wanting to raise costs. Talk about pulling up the ladder behind them!

KR there are very few people who plan never toreturn- a few willinevitable get shafted or find themselves in a direction where they cannot (living abroad,carer status, ill themselves, etc) but the vast majority will return one day.

The only person I now who didn'treturn (no degree though) is my Mum,and even then she contributes the free childcare that enables both my sisters to keep working and paying their taxes and she ended up at home eprmanently becuase of some (IMO this is- not sure she'sever analysed it traumatic events that sapped her confidence too much,rather than through choice.

PMSL. How the fuck would someone who does not work pay back all those thousands in fees then??

But kingrolo, do you really think they will be backpacking for the rest of their life? (my idea of hell)

You better shoot me now then so that I'm no longer a burden on society.

I have a degree and I'm a SAHM (even though both DC are now at school, admitedly youngest started fairly recently).

I've used my degree in the past, I may or may not use my degree in the future, who knows? I will return to work when something suitable hourswise comes up but it may not be the sort of job that I "use" my degree.

Does your arguement mean I should only apply for jobs that my degree is relevant to? Am I allowed to apply for jobs that those without a degree could apply for?

Oh Lexilicious - I was hoping your dad was Magnus Pike!

You know, I don't usually let myself get wound up by threads like this. But I have just deleted about four different responses to this. All could be summarised with "Fuck Off".

HTH HAND.

Does anyone enrol on a uni course at 18 knowing full well they will never work again? Who are these people? I have never met one.

Re: the fact that uni used to be free and now it's not. Well, yes - I quite agree. It's shit. There used to be an abundance of social housing - not anymore. Everyone had an NHS dentist - now they are rare.

I seem to remember a woman called Margaret Thatcher and a decade called the 80s having something to do with the eradication of all of that...

LOLPerseph- a woman alrgely after my own heart.

But I don't actually begrudge the humungous debt I have over me to pay back, worth it IMO- but when poeplelike the CBI bleat on about it all I do think rude things at them- protecting their own arses 9and those of their rich kiddiwinks) it might be, or just a complete lack of aware ness of Real Life and university access issues, but until they cotton on that they are not specialcreatures who were entitled to far more than we ever got and should at least be humble then my acceptance will be minimal.

There are a lot of people out there whose opnions I would listen to, the CBI are not them.

I have got a degree and a post-grad qualification and I'm back at work after maternity leave so there's no jealousy here (or lack of money, I'm pretty well paid luckily for me).

It's not a gender thing.

And if current students weren't having to pay such stupid amounts to go to uni it wouldn't be an issue. It just feels like this generation of young adults are being shafted in every way at the moment.

I'm a teacher of 16-18 year olds and supporting them through uni applications is a nightmare as so many say they just can't afford uni. To see bright kids give up at that age is so sad.

YABU

We educate people for many reasons that have nothing to do with careers.

My sister has a degree, has no children, and has never had a 'professional career.' She has worked as a shop assistant for the last 10 years. Do you want money back off her?

I thought one of the main reasons we educated people was because it was an important function of society and it is undemocratic to encourage ignorance in a population.

What about people who grow up in one country and then emigrate? I remember when I was at school and university in Ireland there was a bit of a debate about this. At the time (mid-80s) there was huge emigration, both grads and non-grads. I was wholly educated there and came to the UK as soon as I graduated so have never paid tax in Ireland.

On the whole I think it balances out. People move from country to country according to labour market demands, if you were to inhibit that (by insisting on fees being paid back for eg) it would create huge inefficiencies in the market with people not being able to go where the jobs are because of the initial costs. Similarly, if people had to pay to leave the job market after having had a university education it might make them hesitant to go to university in the first place.

I worked for nearly 20 years before I gave up to be a SAHM, but who's to say that this isn't also a learning experience for me. I might return to the job market in the future as a more productive worker as a result, possibly in a new field.

How can young people not afford to go to University? I thought they could get loans out to cover the entire cost.

Can someone better informed please explain?

I am a SAHM with a university degree. I like to think my degree helps me with the raising of my dcs - being able to answer their questions, help with homework, give informed opinions on career and university choices, etc. I think it is in fact, the best use my degree could have been put to - to be honest most paid jobs I had, having graduated into a late-80s credit crunch in my home country, really did not require a degree.

My mother, bless her, is always saying how lucky my dcs are that I'm well-educated and well informed, as I know how to help them and guide them (she and my father left school very early and often felt very much in the dark regarding school and job choices for us).

Now 4 people benefit from my degree (in addition to myself ).

Yes but the people who went to uni for free and haven't used their degree are not the ones that have shafted the new generation. In fact it could be argued it is the ones that got a degree for free and then used them to work in govt. that shafted them. You will find that even this generation who pay for their degrees will not all use their degree. YABU.

So SAHM = no value to society then
If you're not paying tax you aren't doing anything useful then

Education shouldn't be all about work.Don't you think education is an end in itself ?