What's the point

[gingerjedi]

Student fees: the answer may lie overseas | Money | The Observer

They can also buy 'doobies' without funding the lifestyle of some 'orrible chav with pitbull.

[Clippy]

My niece is soon to finish her medical degree.

She'll graduate with a well regarded recession proof skill and should be set for life.

Her younger sister is mid-way through a Pharmacy degree.

She was un-able to get onto a Dental degree, even though she was one of the brightest students in her year, as competition for places was so fierce.

Again, she should be set once she graduates.

That just leaves the youngest who is yet to sit her A-Levels but she's cut from the same mold so no worries there.

If you were to ask their parents if it was worth it you would get a resounding yes as they have developed skills to give them a good chance of success in later life.

Compare that to my nephew who, bless him, has a Computer Science degree from a good university and is doing first line support for Fujitsu.

The traditional degrees (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law) are definitely worth it, most others I'm not so sure about.

[suityou01]

My niece is soon to finish her medical degree.

She'll graduate with a well regarded recession proof skill and should be set for life.

Her younger sister is mid-way through a Pharmacy degree.

She was un-able to get onto a Dental degree, even though she was one of the brightest students in her year, as competition for places was so fierce.

Again, she should be set once she graduates.

That just leaves the youngest who is yet to sit her A-Levels but she's cut from the same mold so no worries there.

If you were to ask their parents if it was worth it you would get a resounding yes as they have developed skills to give them a good chance of success in later life.

Compare that to my nephew who, bless him, has a Computer Science degree from a good university and is doing first line support for Fujitsu.

The traditional degrees (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law) are definitely worth it, most others I'm not so sure about.

Agree. Medicine is lucrative, we will always need these trades. Although I was reading in the paper today that Bob's that are imported to do these roles are shockingly not asked to provide their qualifications (Source : The Sun )

[Mich the Tester]

But people like Mitch live there

[wobbegong]

of sending my kids to university? 3-4 years of hard study, boozy nights and they come out with a piece of paper that says degree on it. Yet degrees seem to take less priority these days in the job market. Linky

Is this piece of paper really worth the 30K price tag and lifetime of repayment? Or are they better getting out into the workplace as soon as possible and furthering themselves through the OU, nightschool or college placement schemes?

Any advice is appreciated, although I have 12 years before SY03 will be of university age. Any "putting by" measures recommended will need to be multiplied by 3 as I have 3 little cherubs.

Get your kids to join one of the forces. They pay your fees and the kid gets a wage while studing. No debt and a whole lot of real life experience into the bargain.

[TimberWolf]

Get your kids to join one of the forces. They pay your fees and the kid gets a wage while studing. No debt and a whole lot of real life experience into the bargain.

Or if you is too fick for the army, what about prison?

[Mich the Tester]

Send them to India with a couple of grand. They'll either die of drugs, which gets them off your back, join a hari krishna sect, which gets them off your back, or come back with the solid intention of sorting their own lives out.

[suityou01]

And now, this ....

This would never have happened under new liebour.

[Mich the Tester]

of sending my kids to university? 3-4 years of hard study, boozy nights and they come out with a piece of paper that says degree on it. Yet degrees seem to take less priority these days in the job market. Linky

Is this piece of paper really worth the 30K price tag and lifetime of repayment? Or are they better getting out into the workplace as soon as possible and furthering themselves through the OU, nightschool or college placement schemes?

Any advice is appreciated, although I have 12 years before SY03 will be of university age. Any "putting by" measures recommended will need to be multiplied by 3 as I have 3 little cherubs.

Right, joking aside, I take issue with the idea that everyone needs to go to university and get their degree by 21/22, then get on a 'career path'. Why not spend a few years just doing simple jobs like stacking shelves? I did that for a year or so and got myself a fork lift license which meant that when I did go to poly at 20 I could work two nightshifts a week and the occasional sunday in a local cash and carry and take home almost as much as someone working full time in the day. Now fork lift work is not a top career choice, but it gave me a bloody good lifestyle at college, especially seeing as the rugby club rented me a bedsit for next to nothing and a pub that sponsored them provided most of my meals.

If you're young you don't need a big place to live, you need a bit of cash and some fun in life. You can get your degree, or (arguably) better still, professional qualifications on the OU, at part-time university, at night school or even through employers' training systems. I talked to an HR bod from Tesco on the eurostar recently and he said that someone who joins with very few qualifications can ultimately reach CEO position by following the courses and education offered by the company as he goes along.

Let them break the mould. Or why not do something other than the academiccy stuff; motorbike mechanic could be fun, crane operator, fireman, all worthwhile jobs and while they're doing that they can study for a degree and pay for it themselves, which will probably give them more chance of success as it isn't SY01 or the taxpayer's money they're wasting if they flunk out. Or they might decide to stick at what they're doing and just enjoy it, or even start their own business.

It seems to me that it's become a middle class fetish to send kids to university and boast in the yearly round robin letter that young Jonny's off to 'read Golf Course Management at Puddleton University' and Abigail's going to 'read Journalism at Middlesbrough'.

Forget that crap; see what the little SY's enjoy doing, aside from bonking and boozing, and help them figure out what practical route they can take to do that for a living.

[suityou01]

Right, joking aside, I take issue with the idea that everyone needs to go to university and get their degree by 21/22, then get on a 'career path'. Why not spend a few years just doing simple jobs like stacking shelves? I did that for a year or so and got myself a fork lift license which meant that when I did go to poly at 20 I could work two nightshifts a week and the occasional sunday in a local cash and carry and take home almost as much as someone working full time in the day. Now fork lift work is not a top career choice, but it gave me a bloody good lifestyle at college, especially seeing as the rugby club rented me a bedsit for next to nothing and a pub that sponsored them provided most of my meals.

If you're young you don't need a big place to live, you need a bit of cash and some fun in life. You can get your degree, or (arguably) better still, professional qualifications on the OU, at part-time university, at night school or even through employers' training systems. I talked to an HR bod from Tesco on the eurostar recently and he said that someone who joins with very few qualifications can ultimately reach CEO position by following the courses and education offered by the company as he goes along.

Let them break the mould. Or why not do something other than the academiccy stuff; motorbike mechanic could be fun, crane operator, fireman, all worthwhile jobs and while they're doing that they can study for a degree and pay for it themselves, which will probably give them more chance of success as it isn't SY01 or the taxpayer's money they're wasting if they flunk out. Or they might decide to stick at what they're doing and just enjoy it, or even start their own business.

It seems to me that it's become a middle class fetish to send kids to university and boast in the yearly round robin letter that young Jonny's off to 'read Golf Course Management at Puddleton University' and Abigail's going to 'read Journalism at Middlesbrough'.

Forget that crap; see what the little SY's enjoy doing, aside from bonking and boozing, and help them figure out what practical route they can take to do that for a living.

That's exactly my sentiment. Well said that man!