I was starting to think that paying off your debt would eventually be punishable by death in this country, after all Vince Cables plans to introduce an early repayment penalty which would have cost graduates thousands of pounds if they cleared their debts within 30 years of leaving university seemed ludicrous. It is also worrying for those future students who want to go to University but don’t want to be saddled with debt for the rest of their lives.
I was lucky enough to be able to have free University education, not that it did me a lot of good to be honest because when I left the job I got in the City required job training which I had to go through. So technically it was a waste of three years for me doing umpteen University essays, last minute. Although I think a degree of 2.1 may have helped get me my job originally it didn’t have that much bearing on what I did.
What I find scary however is that from this September, students will be charged up to £9,000 annually to study at university in England and Wales. It seems to me that to have a University education means spending a small fortune and leaving you with a high amount of debt to your name. I do believe however that anyone wishing to study at University look at whether the job they want actually requires a University education. Some jobs do and some jobs don’t this may however lead to a drop in numbers of University attendees.
After all many graduates who are currently leaving University are finding themselves, jobless because of high unemployment. In this kind of environment a degree does not necessarily mean a job at the end, even if you studied subjects such as engineering or architecture because there just aren’t enough places.
I think the best step for the government would be to offer more Open University places and work with employers so University coursework can be done in line with a job, so people can still further their education and start of in their chosen field. However there would need to be benefits for business to provide the apprentice schemes, such as reductions in tax or NI so business don’t have to pay for the governments failings.
Oxford University
Picture courtesy of TEDizen