Are degrees in the UK value for money?

Voyager2002

economic wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42138669

be careful to all future students. you may end up like her. the funny thing is she says she needs more support. i think she just needs to realise how stupid she has been because of the following:
- having a baby at a young age
- doing a pointless degree
- going to a poor uni
- going to uni fullstop
- complaining how its everyone elses fault and not hers.

The key message is that full-time jobs are not compatible with school hours. Decent jobs do, however, pay enough to cover childcare. The baffling thing about the article is why she is not at least using an after-school club and at least exploring options for further childcare, and applying for full-time work.

westernpromise

economic wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42138669

be careful to all future students. you may end up like her. the funny thing is she says she needs more support. i think she just needs to realise how stupid she has been because of the following:
- having a baby at a young age
- doing a pointless degree
- going to a poor uni
- going to uni fullstop
- complaining how its everyone elses fault and not hers.

Sheffield Hallam wouldn't impress me. It's Sheffield Poly. Any degree with "...Studies" in the title is typically not a proper subject. You never hear of "Maths Studies" degrees, for example.

I'm not sure being fluent in Spanish is worth much. If I wanted a Spanish speaker I'd hire a graduate who's Spanish. There are lots of Spanish graduates who are happy to come and work in London.

economic

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Just for the record: people living and working abroad continue to be liable to repay their student debts. If your friend decides to default then yes, it is unlikely that he would be pursued to Nigeria (although British companies are active in the oil sector there so he might still find his pay being garnished), but he would be unable to return to the UK. Does he fancy spending the rest of his life in Nigeria?

Income tax in the UK is low, with a very generous personal allowance, so it is difficult to understand how anyone could actually be better off not working. The exception would be people with many dependants claiming large amounts in benefits: such people would suffer from the loss of benefits if they started earning, but are unlikely to pay much or anything in tax.

So who is the real fool?

i said partly. i have other income streams and enough money to live off so i chose to spend my time doing other things and not being part of PAYE system.

i have always been a higher tax payer when i was working. i always felt underpaid even on 100k. the tax is just too much for my efforts.

westernpromise

economic wrote: »

actually i would not be surprised if she would have been better of on benefits. how much did her degrees cost her? did she not realise she has a kid and so either has to pay a nanny or can only work part time? did she look into career prospects of her degrees, what sort of pay and how likely she would get that (PART-TIME) job with that pay?

trying to better her prospects is not good enough. its all about making smart choices. i guess she deserves what she gets if she is not smart enough to realise her mistakes.

Unless she's in the top 40% of earners she is on benefits. The bottom 60% pay nothing in, they just take.

westernpromise

SingleSue wrote: »

Children have this annoying habit of not staying children forever, they do grow up and what then for the person who has not tried to better themselves, to improve their lot in life?

They vote Labour to be given other people's money. They then applaud themselves without irony for their own fairness, decency and freedom from greed.

economic

the more i think about it the more i think that people who dont need a specific vocational qualification (like medicine) should just do a standardised IQ test after say alevels. companies can then pick based on IQ levels and interview performance and extracurricular activities/experience. saves 3 years of wasting time and the huge debts.

westernpromise

SingleSue wrote: »

It is better to have tried and then failed than to not try at all.

Not necessarily. Someone's idea of trying could be a media studies degree at Luton. They could get it and be no better off, but all the rest of us are because we get the bill. So in those cases, it's clearly better not to have tried than to have tried ineffectively, failed predictably, and sent the bill to everyone else.

westernpromise

Malthusian wrote: »

What I wonder is why she isn't working as a translator. Her marketable skill is that she speaks fluent Spanish.

Google Translate. Good enough for most purposes.

How do you spend three years studying "languages and international business" and not know how to make money out of being fluent in a second language at the end of it? I don't blame her, I blame the university. Raze it to the ground and build luxury flats on it.

Yep. She's done business studies but fallen at the very first hurdle of marketing herself, so a typical "...studies" graduate. Flats are the answer.

economic

westernpromise wrote: »

Not necessarily. Someone's idea of trying could be a media studies degree at Luton. They could get it and be no better off, but all the rest of us are because we get the bill. So in those cases, it's clearly better not to have tried than to have tried ineffectively, failed predictably, and sent the bill to everyone else.

it may of course be better for the person doing the degree if there is no downside. if her prospects of getting a full time job are next to nothing, why not pretend to do something useful at the expense of the taxpayer?

this is why i have 0 pity for her. the world owes her nothing.

westernpromise

economic wrote: »

it may of course be better for the person doing the degree if there is no downside. if her prospects of getting a full time job are next to nothing, why not pretend to do something useful at the expense of the taxpayer?

this is why i have 0 pity for her. the world owes her nothing.

Exactly. She keeps any gains and dumps back onto the taxpayer any losses.