Insider
Education
cial burden of a
degree Universi-
ty students face
significant
debts—the aver-
age graduate
debt including
maintenance
costs and higher
rates of interest
is a staggering
£50.000 for a 3
year degree. It is
believed parents
supplement their
child’s funds
with an average
of £360per
month. This is
because parents
with a household
income of
£30,000 will up
the difference on
the maintenance
loan, as it is
‘means tested!
So do the num-
bers still stack
up? Many of us
can name a rela-
tive who studied
a lesser known
subject that they
never required
for a career,
can’t we? Well,
even so gradu-
ates on average
last year earned
£34,000 per an-
num compared
to £24,000 for
non-graduates.
So in cold hard
terms a degree
pays. But of
course, we don’t
think of university
as a route to
greater earnings—
the benefits are far
greater, whether it
be social interac-
tion, the joy of
study and immers-
ing yourself in a
subject, and uni-
versity experience
and all that con-
tains.
Nevertheless, if it
is a daunting task
to weigh up the
options, decide on
the best course
that provides the
best opportunity
while keeping one
eye on costs. Giv-
en the increase in
the quality of in
job training and ap-
prenticeships it is easy
to understand why
some prefer to decide
on diving into the world
of work. Many other op-
tions do exist which on-
ly compound making
the decision.
If you are having trou-
ble figuring out your
path, my advice is to
talk to recent under-
graduates and listen to
their experience or talk
to the careers depart-
ment. You cant receive
enough advice and in-
formation, when it
comes to making such a
decision. And despite
what you might read
there is no perfect an-
swer, just trust that
everything will work out
in the end!
The College magazine online: sixthformmag.blogspot.co.uk