Are degrees in the UK value for money?

westernpromise

Jackieboy wrote: »

All to massage the youth unemployment figures and keep up the pretence that Britain's education system is still excellent.:(

Some of it is. We host four of the top 10, even though we don't have 40% of the world's population. Sure there are lots of non-Britons in those universities but that is the whole point of universities.

The worst country for hacking the unemployment figures by overeducation are the Germans. They stay at school till they're 19 and routinely do 4 year degrees, and often more than one. Only four of their universities are in the top 100 so it's not like these are especially worth having, although for having a blast, you can do lot worse than a German city.

silvercar

kabayiri wrote: »

We had grads with geology and biology degrees earning 21K or so. The differential to justify the education costs isn't there in this part of the service economy.

On 21k they won't be paying anything back on their student loans.

So they have had 3 yrs, effectively state funded, which has given them a qualification which may or may not be useful in the future. 3yrs of a relatively fun time. 3yrs to mature, hopefully.

I also think that 21k is acceptable for a first proper job to add to the cv, for someone who only has qualifications and work experience is limited to holiday jobs/ internships/ voluntary work etc

I would suggest that if graduates are getting these 21k roles; a lot of the 18 yr olds are probably earning 16k on lower status roles/ shelf stacking/ zero hour contracts.....

theburningcat

I used to teach at a "top 10" university. In my experience, students got a poor deal. Despite several fee increases and other revenue sources (overpriced accommodation, overpriced shops...), the amount invested in teaching was pitiful. Staff were generally very overworked and spent far too much time dealing with conflict, personal issues, bureaucracy etc. Promises made by the department are seldom met (e.g. to give useful feedback in a sensible timeframe).

Every year the standards fall a little bit - the coursework gets easier, staff are told to be more generous etc. so more and more graduates and have less and less knowledge.

That's not to say that there's no value but, now a business owner, if a candidate came to me having studied at the Open University and having some useful project experience and demonstrable thinking skills, I may be more inclined to hire them than a graduate of a Russell Group university.

westernpromise

theburningcat wrote: »

if a candidate came to me having studied at the Open University and having some useful project experience and demonstrable thinking skills, I may be more inclined to hire them than a graduate of a Russell Group university.

What if two candidates came to you, the second having studied at a Russell Group university and having some useful project experience and demonstrable thinking skills?

bugslet

There are degrees in transport management. Wouldn't touch a graduate with a bargepole unless they had actual driving experience. Far better getting someone that has come up through the ranks.

My admittedly limited experience of transport management grads is that they are useless in a reald world situation, though they know some really fancy phrases:(

MacMickster

I've just looked at this thread and originally misread the title.

Having read through the thread however then maybe my first reading of it was correct and we should have UK degrees in achieving "Value for Money".

westernpromise

bugslet wrote: »

There are degrees in transport management. Wouldn't touch a graduate with a bargepole unless they had actual driving experience. Far better getting someone that has come up through the ranks.

My admittedly limited experience of transport management grads is that they are useless in a reald world situation, though they know some really fancy phrases:(

If you want to get into media I would likewise suggest you'd be much better placed with an RG degree in English than with a Luton poly "degree" in meeja studies.

justme111

Cakeguts wrote: »

What are schools doing?

Dealing with 100fold increase in paperwork; trying to get tick boxing inspectors, ignorant governors and other official bodies off their backs and trying to pretend to deliver political lie that unrealistic standards can be achieved while shortchanging the least their students (conscious ones) and counting days to retirement (ones that given up)

Jackieboy

silvercar wrote: »

On 21k they won't be paying anything back on their student loans.

So they have had 3 yrs, effectively state funded, which has given them a qualification which may or may not be useful in the future. 3yrs of a relatively fun time. 3yrs to mature, hopefully.

I also think that 21k is acceptable for a first proper job to add to the cv, for someone who only has qualifications and work experience is limited to holiday jobs/ internships/ voluntary work etc

I would suggest that if graduates are getting these 21k roles; a lot of the 18 yr olds are probably earning 16k on lower status roles/ shelf stacking/ zero hour contracts.....

£16k is about 20% over NMW - I doubt that many people of any age are earning that for the jobs you describe.

economic

it appears not only are some degrees poor value for money, but they can literally cost you your life:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-38744307