Should I discourage my kids from going to Uni?

The_One_Who

There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone doing a subject they enjoy simply because they enjoy it. A lot of jobs ('graduate' or not) do not require a specific degree, just any will do. More options for school-leavers not wanting to go to university are needed, and these options need to be well funded and well respected.

A parent should leave it up to their child what they want to do. I would never try to discourage a child from going to university if that is what they wanted to do.

I hate this idea of some courses being more worthwhile than others, more often than not wholly based on the future earning potential of its graduates.

pigpen

Surely the whole point of going is to enhance your future job prospects? Otherwise what is the point you may as well just do stuff as a hobby after work and not gather up disgusting amounts of debt

And how can you compare a degree in medicine (I am aware that is only a part of the whole) with one in drama.. they are totally different yet some of you reckon both are equally valid.. claptrap!

The_One_Who

pigpen wrote: »

Surely the whole point of going is to enhance your future job prospects? Otherwise what is the point you may as well just do stuff as a hobby after work and not gather up disgusting amounts of debt

And how can you compare a degree in medicine (I am aware that is only a part of the whole) with one in drama.. they are totally different yet some of you reckon both are equally valid.. claptrap!

Maybe to some it is about enhancing future job prospects, and of course having a degree certainly doesn't hinder them. However, for a lot of people that is not the only thing they are wanting out of university. Some things can be done as a hobby, but others simply can't.

I'm not saying a medicine degree and a drama degree are necessarily equal, but if someone wants to do a drama degree then that is their choice. In the same way if someone wants to do a language degree or a physics degree, or any other.

Oldernotwiser

pigpen wrote: »

Surely the whole point of going is to enhance your future job prospects?

Unfortunately your attitude has become more and more common as university education has become devalued.

pigpen

good.. they may stop making our children pay stupid sums of money to waste 3 years of their life.

The_One_Who

pigpen wrote: »

good.. they may stop making our children pay stupid sums of money to waste 3 years of their life.

No one is making anyone go to university, that is purely the choice of the individual, and the costs of going to university are very well publicised. A degree is not necessarily a waste either, not if the person enjoyed their time there and enjoyed learning about their chosen subject.

There is a hell of a lot more to life than money.

pigpen

too right.. I said exacty that yesterday on another thread.. money isn't the be all.. but if all they are going to get is debt and more info about something they are interested in there are cheaper and more realistic ways to learn.. they used to be called hobbies... now they do degrees in them.. the difference?.. money.. as always.

I would encourage all my children to study anything they are interested in.. but I would discourage them from getting into debt to do so when they can gain just as much for free or much less than university, unless they will ultimately benefit from it.

Oldernotwiser

pigpen wrote: »

good.. they may stop making our children pay stupid sums of money to waste 3 years of their life.

Why do you see higher level study as a waste?

You seem to have a bit of a bee in your bonnet about academic study, do you have a negative experience of it?

pigpen

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Why do you see higher level study as a waste?

You seem to have a bit of a bee in your bonnet about academic study, do you have a negative experience of it?

I have no bees at all I just would hate any of my children to get themselves into debt for a piece of useless paper.

University education has its place and many courses are superb with excellent job prospects at the end (nursing, biomed, social work and so on).. but there are also ridiculous ones which are use to noone and the universities profit from our children, and the parents. IMO they exploit teenagers (mainly) for several thousand pounds when they get no further in a career and they gain nothing but debt and information they could have got from reading or social groups for example. that is what I object to.. and the fact they actually get away with it..

The_One_Who

pigpen wrote: »

too right.. I said exacty that yesterday on another thread.. money isn't the be all.. but if all they are going to get is debt and more info about something they are interested in there are cheaper and more realistic ways to learn.. they used to be called hobbies... now they do degrees in them.. the difference?.. money.. as always.

I would encourage all my children to study anything they are interested in.. but I would discourage them from getting into debt to do so when they can gain just as much for free or much less than university, unless they will ultimately benefit from it.

Yes, the debt is bad, but higher education costs money to provide and someone needs to finance it. Personally, I would prefer university education to be free but only to those with the academic ability for it.

There are quite a lot of subjects which simply cannot be studied adequately as a hobby, and definitely without access to an academic library/journal articles and very expensive equipment.

How can you predict what you will ultimately benefit from?