Is getting a degree worth it?

birdlip

"Is getting a degree worth it? Many companies insist recruits have a degree. Yet 40% of employers believe the qualification has become devalued. This paradox is the result of the government’s push of higher education to the masses (target: 50% of school leavers), incorporating the upgrading of colleges and institutes to universities. Chancellor Gordon Brown is currently saying that the government may introduce penalties to force youngsters to stay in education until the age of 18, which will further their aims of a better educated society. From a philosophical standpoint this is no bad thing – higher education is no longer an exclusive route for the privileged to yet further privileges and, as Bertrand Russell said, the pursuit of knowledge is to be encouraged as it can be acquired by everyone at no-one’s detriment, whereas the pursuit of large land estates, for example, cannot. However, knowledge, at today’s university prices, does not come cheap. Tuition fees have leapt from £1000 a year to £3000, and the top universities are lobbying for them to go even higher, up to £6000. This already significant debt burden on the graduate is getting bigger. Research finds that graduates earn on average £100k-£200k more over their careers than non-graduates – but this varies wildly according to the choice of degree. Graduates in medicine, dentistry, engineering and economics can expect to repay their student debts many times over. However, graduates of fine art, architecture, archeology, media studies and drama may conversely find themselves in a spiral of debt that is difficult to escape. Choose carefully."

cutesee

welli'm torn, it left me in so much debt , lets just say i'll be paying my loan back for a very long time and i have to live with my parents n at 23 years old this kills!! I'm always skint and my car never wants to work.
But......i had a lot of fun as a student and it did change the person i am and i'm so glad i made the friends i did. I'm in the fine art graduates so maybe thats why i'm in this problem.
I work with children and my degree is part of that so i should be thankful that i got i have it and half of me is. I would strongly say that to any one thinking of going to uni, strongly think if the course will get you a job in that field or if its all just because you don't know what to do cause it'll bite you on the !!!.

[Deleted User]

Would I have got my last job without a BSc and MSc? No
Would I have got my current job without a BSc and the experience gained from last job? Nope

Would I be on a similar salary now if i'd have not gone to uni 9 years ago? Probably not. But then again, i'm a Science & IT graduate. Might be a different story if i'd done a degree in 'Noddy goes shopping' / drama.

On the downside, i might have started a little business that now might be a bigger business. I would have missed out on some damn good memories and friendships from uni though

Moomum

ringo_24601 wrote:

Might be a different story if i'd done a degree in 'Noddy goes shopping' / drama.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Idiophreak

Are degrees worth it?

Sadly, I'd have to say "not a chance".

I probably wouldn't have got my current job without them, that much is true, but the amount they cost is totally mental.

I had around 20k of debt from my degrees, which would be fine in itself - but I also spent four years of my life on them. Which, if I'd have worked retail for the same time, would be worth, at least, another 40.

At 22, then, I'd have been a minimum of 60k better off. If I applied myself and got a better than retail job (admin etc), or been promoted through the retail route, I could probably have earnt a bit more.

That's a lot of money. Sure, I had fun at uni, learnt a lot, etc. But when you're talking about such a massive amount of money, I think you've got to feel extremely passionate etc about a subject in order for it to be worthwhile.

seaweasel

I'd say yes, but I think students need to choose carefully which degree they do, which isn't easy. My degree got me my current job, but that pays less than minimum wage and I'm looking for something better. I wish that someone had said to me when I left school, or rather when I was about 14, "Go and do a law degree." I still would have been able to go into my chosen industry (music), however I'd be earning much much much more money. Ah well.

I don't even think about student loan debt as I don't have to pay it back yet and my other debt is a bit more pressing/expensive.

si1503

Idiophreak wrote:

Are degrees worth it?

Sadly, I'd have to say "not a chance".

I probably wouldn't have got my current job without them, that much is true, but the amount they cost is totally mental.

I had around 20k of debt from my degrees, which would be fine in itself - but I also spent four years of my life on them. Which, if I'd have worked retail for the same time, would be worth, at least, another 40.

At 22, then, I'd have been a minimum of 60k better off. If I applied myself and got a better than retail job (admin etc), or been promoted through the retail route, I could probably have earnt a bit more.

That's a lot of money. Sure, I had fun at uni, learnt a lot, etc. But when you're talking about such a massive amount of money, I think you've got to feel extremely passionate etc about a subject in order for it to be worthwhile.

Are you being serious? Over a lifetime graduates earn on average nearly £500k more than non-graduates. Are you are moaning about 60k!

Jersy

im not 2 bad, im 3.5k in debt (i think) and im finsihing off my BSc

next year, im lookin at a masters, which unless i get funding (14 people out of approx 28 on the course automatically get funding), will cost me 4k loans, plus travel and accomidation which i will pay for though part time work

Seraphim

si1503 wrote:

Are you being serious? Over a lifetime graduates earn on average nearly £500k more than non-graduates. Are you are moaning about 60k!

Depends who you listen to! The government way about 500k but a recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that the average extra earnt by a student over their life time was a paltry (!) £160,000, although it depends on the subject.

http://www.moneytowers.com/2007/student-money/government-student-survey-wrong/

movilogo

In future, more & more high paying jobs will go to candidates having degrees!
Since in future (& in certain cases already started) one need to compete with well qualified international candidates, without a degree, jobs will simply go to overseas candidates!

Look what's happening in IT field....

So, you need a degree.

Blacksheep1979

I'm a mature student and the job I was doing before I went to uni was pants. In the job I have just got I will earn the same as if I had done the same job at the same salary for the last three years in my first year. Worth it? I think so, ok there is added debt and I would have progressed in that job but not as rapidly as I should in this new one.

As someone pointed out above if you do some noddy course where if you honestly answered the question 'Why have you gone to uni?' the answer would be for a laugh or caus mummy n daddy are paying then you would def be better out in the real wide world. Courses based around the arts and from ex-polys possibly won't lead to the best jobs BUT the life experience should help some way. Jobs from a decent old style university based around the sciences etc should always land you a job that you couldn't have got without a degree.

So the question should really be 'are you doing a worthwhile course for a job?' not 'Is getting a degree worth it?'.