Student Loan 2015 Discussion

setmefree2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I just don't think that the majority of graduates are high earners these days and even those on good salaries are likely to have breaks in their careers where they earn less than the threshold.

ETA. Figures from 2008 show that 1 in 3 graduates are not earning enough to make repayments on their student loan and this is with a threshold of £15,000.

w.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/06/studentfinance.education

Maybe you are right. I find that, frankly, shocking.

Here are some shop assistant jobs in London/ home counties. They all pay between £16k to £18k.

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=shop%20assistant&l=london&r=auto&ft=1

Here are some jobs in Primark as a management trainee - £21k to £23k.

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=primark&l=london&r=auto&ft=1

Work in a warehouse - £25k to £30k per year

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=warehouse&l=london&r=auto&ft=1

Secretary - £25k to £35k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=secretary&l=london&r=auto

Bus Driver - £18k to £21k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=bus%20driver&l=london&r=auto&ft=1

Not to forget

Ads by Google Re-Train As A Plumber

Huge Shortage. Earn Up To £50,747. No Exp Needed. Free Info Here.

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=secretary&l=london&r=auto

So I really can't understand why someone who has a degree only earns £15k, unless a degree today really is worthless.

setmefree2

Here are jobs for assistant accountants. (You don't even have to be fully qualified to do one of these.) £25k to £32k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=assistant%20accountant&l=london&r=10&ft=1

Trainee Solicitor - £38k to £61k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=trainee%20solicitor&l=london&r=auto&ft=1

Legal Assistant - £24k to £30k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=legal%20assistant&l=london&r=auto&ft=1

Teacher - £25k to £70k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=teacher&l=london&r=auto

Nurse £25k to £40k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=nurse&l=london&r=auto

setmefree2

A Secretary in Bristol £17k to £25K

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=secretary&l=bristol&r=auto

A shop assistant in Bristol £14k to £18k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=shop+assistant&l=bristol&r=auto

A Secretary in Manchester £18k to £28k

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=secretary&l=manchester&r=auto

and you can earn at least £13k as a Bin Man in most areas of England

http://www.jobrapido.co.uk/?w=refuse%20collector&l=england&r=auto&ft=1


So a degree must be worth very little these days if so many graduates can't even earn £15k not even as much as a BIN MAN!!!!!!

Oldernotwiser

Most of the unskilled jobs you've quoted are in London, which wouldn't be suitable for everyone. Apart from anything else, many graduates find that they're overqualified 3when they apply for unskilled work.

I don't see much point giving illustrations of pay for teachers, nurses and secretaries - none of which could you apply for if you don't have qualifications in this area.

melancholly

well i guess a lot will be studying, retraining, unemployed, working part time, on maternity leave, self employed with low salary but money stashed in pension, those who work for only part of the year so their annual salary is below threshold..... plus the ones who are just in jobs with low salaries or the ones working abroad in a different currency below the converted threshold. it still seems like a staggeringly high percentage though.....especially since the article says that the proportion is those who haven't made a single payment in 7 years after graduation. some 'students' will be mature students who didn't ever want it to be about a career change (can you get a student loan when you're retired?!). although i did know girls at uni who went to find a husband. if successful, they won't work their entire adult life but most took the loans (although some were clearly from families where the loans weren't needed).

i suppose all the proportions add up to a bigger whole. i think i often look at this entirely focussed on students being 18-21. a lot of the time they aren't!

setmefree2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Most of the unskilled jobs you've quoted are in London, which wouldn't be suitable for everyone. Apart from anything else, many graduates find that they're overqualified 3when they apply for unskilled work.

I don't see much point giving illustrations of pay for teachers, nurses and secretaries - none of which could you apply for if you don't have qualifications in this area.

So they can't get an "unskilled" job and end up earning even less pay - is that what you are saying????

They are worse off financially for getting a degree? Why does anyone do a degree these days then?

Nearly 400,000 graduates have not made repayments on their loans up to seven years after they graduated because they are not yet earning above the £15,000 threshold.

Of the 1,237,300 students who still had money outstanding on loans taken out since fees were introduced, 384,300 had not begun repaying the loans at all.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/06/studentfinance.education

That is truly appalling!!!!!! and that was in the boom years.

I think there might be a big fat elephant in the room here and nobody wants to mention him....

DaveO

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Many students manage in the situation you describe, simply by working for a few hours per week. Even if that isn't possible and parents need to chip in, you're only going to be talking about another £20 a week - hardly something one needs to remortgage for and probably rather less than the student will have cost them when living at home!

Given the Russell group of Universites discourage taking a job and the workload on many degrees is high enough to make this impossible to combine with study (most sciences and especially medicine , vetenary science and dentistry) you are making a very I'll informed and simplistic generalisation.

I went to Aberystwyth years ago to study Compuer Science and the work load was high but also the town is small. Too small to give all the students a nice little job even if they had time to do it.

So the person you replied to was right. The means tested loans will mean families on relatively low incomes will be forced to contribute and in some cases I am sure they won't be able to afford it.

What this means is the constant mantra of you only pay it back afterwards and so there is no up front cost is complete hogwash for most people and the new funding regime will discourage people from going.

setmefree2

DaveO wrote: »

What this means is the constant mantra of you only pay it back afterwards and so there is no up front cost is complete hogwash for most people and the new funding regime will discourage people from going.

I soooo agree. Not enough prominence has ever been given to this (including by MSE).

The government has chosen to maintain its current system of means-tested loans, which are biggest for students from middle-income households, who get less help from grants but are offered bigger loans than those from wealthier backgrounds. While loan amounts have been increased, the threshold for those receiving the most generous ones has been lowered from £50,000 to about £42,000.

That's going to hurt a lot of people.

setmefree2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Many students manage in the situation you describe, simply by working for a few hours per week. Even if that isn't possible and parents need to chip in, you're only going to be talking about another £20 a week - hardly something one needs to remortgage for and probably rather less than the student will have cost them when living at home!

Oldernotwiser have you any idea what things cost these days? A packet of Bic biros costs £5.10. A4 paper costs £2 to £3. A jar of coffee is £5, a tube of toothpaste £3 .....
:cool:

Oldernotwiser

setmefree2 wrote: »

So they can't get an "unskilled" job and end up earning even less pay - is that what you are saying????..

You must surely have come across the concept of being overqualified before.

Suppose you suddenly weren't able to be an accountant any more - do you really think that you would be McDonald's or Tesco's first choice as an entry level employee?