Completely unaffordable to do a masters

[sergeantmajor]

DS wants to become an economist. It seems he would need a masters (which he'd love to do) to pursue this line of work. He is in his final year of his Economics BSc, doing very well. I just can't believe that tuition fees alone are c.£25k for one year, while the government loan is c.£11k. He seems to be priced out before he's even begun.

There don't appear to be any scholarships for a masters in this subject. We saw one job ad that mentioned sponsoring their trainees for a masters which would be a dream come true, but only one.

He has some savings from bar work but this doesn't come close to enough. Our own income has taken a massive hit this year, so we can't close the gap.

Is there something that I'm missing???

An "economist" isn't a qualified profession in the same way as a solicitor or architect. If he can't afford a masters (which isn't essential) he needs to look for jobs which use his economics knowledge and build up his career that way.

I just check the University of Manchester website at they quote £13500 for a Masters in Economics for a home student.

He could be an economist in the civil service without a masters. They have a few training schemes that you get paid while doing www.gov.uk/guidance/assistant-economist-recruitment

It’s £11,500 at Bath for a home student for full time on campus course. Also the option to do MSc Applied Economics part time fully online whilst working. That might be a good option as DS could work whilst studying and pay unit by unit?

There are plenty of jobs for economists that don't require masters. Most of the economic regulators take on economic grads and so do some consultancies. Is there a specific job he is after?

Prices are ridiculous I agree. Either choose a less expensive course or better yet try and get it through experience

That sounds very high - I'm paying just under 7k for my masters (I get a 20% alumi discount) - so even full price it's under 10k

1. The course is overpriced are you looking at foreign student fees?
2. He needs to cut his cloth accordingly. Many people can’t afford a masters degree or to train in the thing they want to do. The usual path is to get a job for a few years and save up then take a career break.

My friend did an economics degree and works for civil service with the title of Economist. Does he need to do a masters?

Well its £12k for a full time masters at LSE with scholarships available (and an option to do two years part time and get a job to pay living expenses)

£11900 - £13500 full time at Edinburgh again with a part time option

£13500 Manchester, £13700 Nottingham, £10,750 Leeds, £10,170 Birmingham,

Some of the London ones, plus Oxford and Cambridge are very high but plenty of Russell group unis are a lot cheaper and a lot offer part time

Many people finish their first degree then work for a bit, then go back and complete a Masters when they have some professional experience. Many get paid for or sponsored by their employers. Some just do a post grad certificate.

The European masters of law and Economics (emle) offers big scholarships for top students and the opportunity to study at three different highly rated European universities in English.

I wouldn't expect job ads to state that they support training for grads. It's very common in larger organisations though. Especially for grads with promise.

If he is looking to work as an economist who thinks he needs a masters in Economics, what actual career does he envisage? What kind of economics does he want to specialise in

Does he plan to stay as an academic ? Best path in that case would be to get some real world experience.

Lots of corporate organisations will actually sponsor or support further qualifications for really good people even if they don't promise to do so up front. He would have to prove himself first in any case.

Are you looking at overseas student fees or just an extremely pricey course?

Masters for UK students are usually around the 10-15k mark (I don't know about economics specifically). If you're not from the UK then might it be cheaper for him to aim at a masters in your home country?

Many are doable part time or remotely so he could work. Civil service is a good shout.

Generally, funding for taught Masters courses is distributed centrally by universities, rather than being advertised as being for a specific course. So he may not be able to find scholarships specifically to do an MSc in Economics (although there are some), but he should be able to find scholarships to do a Masters at a particular university.

Judging by the tuition fees you quote, he is looking to do a Masters at one of the very top universities for economics. It is unfortunately the case that the top 5 or so universities for economics have all set their fees for taught Masters in Economics way above their fees for most other courses, basically just because they can.

He should consider whether it is actually necessary / enormously beneficial to have a Masters from one of these universities for the "economist" jobs that he wants to do - it might be that there is a significant benefit to having an MSc from one of these universities, but it might equally be the case that getting an MSc from an excellent but not top five university for economics, such as Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, would suffice.

Make sure he investigates the MSc Economics is right for him before going further, especially as he is doing a BSc Economics. Many Masters are conversion courses - not necessarily going further than the BSc so he needs to get the right one.

Have a look at the Open University and other remote/part time options as perhaps he could work and study at the same time. I did this for both an MSc and an MBA and it worked really well (as no earnings loss).

Where the hell are you looking that it's 25k for a taught masters? Sweden?

Warwick and LSE charge this.

LSE Tuition fees 2023/24 for MSc Economics

Home students: £32,856
Overseas students: £33,504

Seems wildly uneconomical....😬😂

Huge thanks everyone for the helpful comments, which I am following up. Oxford is charging £52k for their economics masters! Bloomin' cheek. I know DS could take other paths, and frankly might have to, but I can't help thinking that I must be missing something, that there must be a funding system that makes this route viable for students for whom it would otherwise be prohibitive.

Isn't the Oxford Masters two years, whereas LSE is 10 months? Or have things changed?

In theory you could earn money by doing some teaching/RA work but the LSE course is very intense and there is really not much time for any sort of paid work.

Why does he want to do a Masters? As others point out there are plenty of jobs which do not require one. DS did because he as particularly interested in economic research and forecasting and wanted to go on to a PhD. He wanted to take one of the more mathematical courses - the LSE Masters particularly has a lot of technical material, indeed he opted for Econometrics and Mathematical Economics rather than straight Economics .

An impressive number of his peers have ended up getting funding for further studies in the US whilst others landing very well paid consultancy jobs.

He should speak to the LSE etc about how students manage to find funding. We were able to pay up front, but DS certainly had a couple of British friends whose families would not have been in a position to do so. I think one worked in consultancy for a couple of years before returning for a Masters. A second found work as a Research Assistant/Teaching Assistant for a year. (There always seemed to be work for those who had good quantitative skills, and teaching assistants got hired with just a good UG degree.) A third went straight onto the Masters, I assume with some sort of bursary. The UCL Masters is also well regarded and, as a richer University, may have more funding.

He doesn’t need to go to Oxford though does he. There’s other more affordable options other have mentioned.

You're literally picking the most expensive option from the world's most prestigious university, a course which is not a requirement for his chosen career path, and wailing "but it's not faaaaiiiir".

He does what everyone else (who doesn't have a trust fund) does. He gets a job and saves up to pay for what he wants.