to think that anyone getting 35k into debt for a degree in advertising is bonkers?

[morningpaper]

Was speaking to a friend whose son is just completing a degree in advertising and has 35k of debt.

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT?

How can that possibly be worth it?

ADVERTISING?

First to go in a recession, bad luck.

No one needs a degree in advertising.

if he's good at what he does, he will clear that quicker than the standard amount say a teacher gets into debt.

I really doubt that OTTMumma

I bet there are VERY FEW advertising graduates who are actually earning decent money, and even less who NEEDED a degree in advertising before they could have got the job

Most people I know in advertising earn crap money

Understandable if he was training to be a Barrister but....advertising?totally bonkers.

Has he been shoving it up his nose or something?

yes, bonkers. I hope he enjoyed it.

accommodation was 6k a year and fees were 5k a year I think

so it was just accommodation and fees basically

but still MAD

My first MORTGAGE was 36k and I thought I would spend 25 years paying it off....

students spend huge amounts of money these days. They wear expensive clothes and demand en-suite rooms in their halls and go out all the time. Not like in our day when it was all Oxfam chic and 7 people crammed into a 3 bedroom terrace to save rent.

BadGardener there is some truth in that

Defitely true, BadGardener - although there are students who work really hard to save money, I teach a fair few who have IPhones, eat out or get takeaway 2 or 3 times a week and will spent £200 on a coat. And these aren't even the ones who have rich mummies and daddies, just ordinary students with loans. It's an unpopular view, but I do think a lot of student debt is unnecessary.

All the people I know who are in advertising (and not doing badly out of it) studied something else - law, classics, english lit for example. It just seems pointless to spend so much money studying something which requires a skillset you can acquire on the job, instead of something which less vocation which can give you more options.

And at the amount.

I agree sayanything

I doubt there is much you need to know about advertising that you couldn't pick up from a few books and six months on the job

In the USA getting 30 gees in debt for your undergrad degree is standard, isn't it? They all go on to do MAs, too!

If he is passionate about this career choice then I'd say it is worth it, yes. I got about 12 grand into debt doing my degree (and that was 10+ yrs ago) Took me about 5 years to pay off, but I got the career I wanted and a decent salary with potential for higher earnings later, so worth it.

People scoff at these 'vocational' degrees - just look at 'Media Studies' and the flak that gets - but in my experience of working for a major broadcaster, we certainly didn't scoff. Not everyone reads Philosophy at Oxford!

He will need to be doing work experience in his holidays, though. An advertising degree with no work experience would ring alarm bells for me.

Vocational degrees can be a very good idea in many circumstances, especially in many of the new 'creative' industries as they demonstrate awareness of the developing skills these industries need.

BUT: £35k?! Amazing! I only graduated 3 yrs ago and my deby was/is £15k, and that was for 4 yrs... How did it get to that?!

Sorry...debt not deby!

Interesting piece here on what Saatchis are making students do just to get on their UNPAID summer placement scheme.

Getting a job and getting on in advertising is now even more about WHO you know, imo.

Of course one reason to do a vocational course these days is to build up the contacts and get work experience opportunities that may not be easy to get otherwise. 6k still sounds like a lot for accommodation though - is that in London?

But if you have to spend your holidays doing free work experience then you are going to get into even MORE debt, aren't you?

Abslutely agree. Not like getting into debt for something sensible like a degree in medieval Latin.

i blame mad men. he will be gutted when he realises he can't smoke and shag the secretaries

Brahms, most student debt is more than necessary.

I graduated this summer with c. £17k debt. I was on the 'old system', so I didn't pay top up fees. Most of the £17k was maintenance loan, at £4.5k a year. My rent alone was more than that.

I studied in Brighton, and after living in halls for a year, lived in shared student housing, which was almost £400 per month for a room alone. Bills on top. In no way did I live a life of luxury. It was a small room in a house that was virtually crumbling. That was just market rent in Brighton.

I had to work all the way through uni to be able to eat. I also very rarely went out.

Having said that, one of my housemates dropped out in second year, but continued to live with us. Never bothered to get a job. Ironically, he has narry a penny of debt. His dad was bankrolling him the whole time.

I got into debt as a student, because I had to borrow to pay the tuition fees.
But I wouldn't have dreamed of borrowing money to live on, that's what part time jobs are for surely? Why don't students work these days?

There aren't always enough part time jobs going to keep the entire student community.

well there aren't enough jobs to keep the entire graduate community

students should remember THAT....

Completely bonkers getting that amount of debt on an advertising degree....what is that anyway? never heard of such a degree before. IMO, large amounts of student debt are only worth it if obtaining a degree from a top uni as contacts/networks built are invaluable and often lead to good job prospects.
Having said that, I got £60k worth of debt doing an MBA