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!

yabu - many degrees are not vocational so how on earth would you define who is and who isn't using theirs. I was a graduate SAHM for 9 years, claiming nothing from the state in return for the 10 years or so I had worked in a field unrelated to my degree , as that was where I had found a job, paying tax and ni. Those who take degrees and other qualifications idnefinitely at the the tax payers expense are fewer and fewer. It has become really difficult to get any state funding once you have passed a Further Education course, even if you want to retrain into a profession with a skills shortage. Do you have a degree yourself by any chance ?

YABU. I was qualified in 1990 with my degree, fast forward to 97 and I had my 1st child.

I never returned to the job which my degree was related to, it simply didn't fit with my life as it was. Instead I took a job in a local shop in order to fit my life round my children.

I didn't have a crystal ball when I did my degree though - how was I supposed to know that within 10 years I would have children?? Even now they are older it is unlikely that I will return to that field as my original qualification has become largely obsolete.

FFS, of course YABU.

I have 2 degrees, have worked for 25 years and had absolutely zero compunction in giving up work to be a SAHM to DS.

Grow up and find something reasonable to get sniffy about.

I don't think that would be fair now. Most people I know get so little financial help there wouldn't be much to pay back. But I guess when I was a student in the early 80s you could get a full grant so in theory that would work. Just wondering though - my BA was in archaeology and English - not exact an oven-ready degree And I'm not 'using' it now as I'm in IT. Should I pay that back?

Oh yes, and I part-paid for my Masters degree. My then employers paid for the rest and got benefit from me having it.

YABU. You also sound quite bitter.

I think that is an excellent idea. The extra money could be given to people like me who had children later in life and have to work full time. I could become a SAHM - fab!

Realistically nowadays everyone pays for their own degrees so nothing to repay. In my day we didn't have to pay fees but I figure my parents' taxes more than covered that.

Only vulgarians think that the purpose of education is solely paid employment.

AND I worked for the NHS for 10+ years.

Oh I forgot - philistines too, not just vulgarians

Yeah, philistines and vulgarians! Quite agree!

I'm a professional with a degree, but currently a SAHM. So what. It was my choice to do this and I do actually intend to return to the same profession or a similar one (where my degree and diploma will both come in useful for any other related qualifications I may choose to do later on).
I have no idea when I'll return but seeing as most of us will have to work til we are in our 70s, it seems more than likely that I'll be working the best part of 25 years once I have raised DC to school age where they have a certain level of independence and then I'll get some part of my 'old life' back.

I didn't pay to study my qualifications at Uni. I had no tuition fees to pay.

It was funded by the Govt.

YABU.

My degree was in law, at the time it was what i wanted to do, i had wanted to do it since i was young.

I got married relatively young ( 23) and had my first baby at 24. i became really interested in midwifery at that time, and i still am, and I aim, once the children are a bit older, to apply and retrain.

i will make a much better midwife than i ever would a lawyer !!

i think it is incredibly difficutl in your teens, with little to no life experience, to choose your path for the whole of your life

i also know lots of people, both my parents included , who;ve retrained in totalyl different careers in their 40s

I was a SAHM for years, partyl due to illness and hten due to choice. i have brought up my children, run the house, done lots of other bits and bobs, volunteering, trained as a doula in that time and that has strengthened my resovle to do the midwifery

being a SAHM allowed me to find my way to what i depserately want to do

being penalised financially for making the wrong choice 15 years ago would be very harsh

so kingrolo

how would it be decided who had to give back their fees?

If I take an art degree but dont become a successful artist then do I pay back the fees? Or is it only people who take teaching a medical degrees who have to sign a lifetime contract?

If I take a degree in say teaching and then cannot find a job (as is the real situation in the area I live in at the moment) then must i repay the fees if i start working in sainsburys to keep the bills paid?

It does pee me off a bit that I am paying off a massive student loan but I did know that would be the case before I began to study. I was lucky enough to study before tuition fees had to be paid by students, but I had to take out loans to cover some of my living expenses.

Well I went to uni but I didn;t want to. I had fees paid but was unsupported and even with working part time all teh way through have studnet loans still to pay off as I have never earned enough to start paying.

I never had a career to give up.

So can I get a discount?

FFS.

I'll be ok :- I took a degree in English and I speak it a the time

Oops

all the time

YABU.
My mum grew up in reletive poverty in a deprived area of a very large city. Her dad died when she was 12, so my grandma supported the family by taking in washing.
She struggled to get into uni, and she was the first person in the family to go. She got a degree in English Lit, and since then she has beena hairdresser, a charity work, a SAHM and a tutor for adults with SN.
At no point did she use her English Lit degree. But why should she pay back the cost of her course? She set a standard, and she fought to improve her standard of life so her kids wouldn't have to.
I'm midway through my degree at the moment, and I object to paying for it.
But I fail to see how people paying their tuition fees would make it any fairer.
I hate this sort of OP; it's always about blaming the wrong people.
IMHO, my generation would've stood a much better chance of receiving free HE if our revered MPs hadn't merrily pissed the money away on duck islands and the such like, the Royal Family didn't receive in excess of 14 million pounds a year and if shitty city types hadn't cocked up the whole financial system meaning the banks had to be bailed out with tax money.

I think there are many more uses for an education than just making money/paying tax.

YABU- I graduated 4 years ago, and to be honest I have no intention of paying back any money I received as a student. For one, I earn under the threshold to start repayments as I've been unable to get a graduate job and to be honest the job I do is also done by people with 5 GCSE'S. I thought going to university would get you a better income and this is why people beleieved you should repay the debt to society, but if I'm not seeing those benefits then they are not getting any money from me. I have friends who earn under the threshold but repay regardless and I think this is wrong. To be honest if I was offered small pay rises from now on I would rather turn them down as I don't see why I should repay the debt, when people that didn't go to university earn the same as me and don't have these debts to repay. Until I get a job where my degree has given me an advantage over other candidates then I refuse to pay for my education. Education should be free to all and I'm not being penalised for wanting to better myself. I have £12000 from the student loans company and they can charge me interest till it comes out of my ears, I don't care if I still have the debt when I retire. As with everything in this country, penalise those who want to do well and give benefits to those who can't be arsed to do anything. Surely those who went to University become, as a whole, the biggest group contributing to the revenue, why should they then have to pay for education as well.

I have been a SAHM at times and I think your opinion is very sexist. Maybe I should have left my newborns with strangers in order to repay debts and make 'society' a better place, neglecting my own children. Instead of giving them a headstart and teaching them well in order for them to go to university and get a good job. Children are only at home till the age of 5 at the latest, its hardly a lifetime.

OP - I trained as a nurse and worked for a year till i left to have ds2. When i do return I will have to refresh as been out of it for so long. Wasnt planned like this but it happened and caring for my ds is more important than loading myself up with guilt for someone like you.

Milly - just to add to the 'why can't some youngsters afford to go to uni?' - My dd has a student loan (as well as tuition fee loan). The amount was worked out on mine and her father's incomes. It just about covers her accomodation and we are supposed to contibute £43 per week towards her income. What it doesn't take into account is that we live down south where property is expensive, so we have a huge mortgage - added to that a debt that we are paying off due to a failed business. The loans company only take into account what you are earning and how many children under 18 that you are supporting. So although our income looks relatively healthy, they do not take into account our outgoings. We don't have £43 a week spare for ourselves after we have payed all our bills. DD has been lucky enough to find a couple of part time jobs as she is not on a course that is lecture heavy - and we contribute what we can.

hmc - "Only vulgarians think that the purpose of education is solely paid employment"

Quite agree and I like your style!

YABU. VU.

Who plans the rest of their life at 17/18yo.