Its very progressive..

[RoddersUK]

Don't forget medicine as well as engineering and sciences.
All the other media study types should pay the full whack.

[Masie]

I agree that uni degrees have become a bit silly but before they cut the degree option off for so many (and they have, its such silly money, I have friends who work all hours while trying to finish their studies off and that was before the price rise). I think rather than all the more obscure degrees we should form instiutuions where you can go and find yourself for a year, with some good general skills learned and some good emploment advice given, something I never had. I know its such a hippi thing to say but leaving home was the making of me and the fear now is that less well of people will once again feel trapped at home.

[andy at handiwork]

Not a fan of education simply for its own sake and the eventual benefit to society that results then?

[justincyder]

No, education for educations' sake? Certainly if they fund it themselves. Education has to have a purpose like anything else otherwise whats the point.

if it cost nothing to educate someone then yippee let everyone do a phd but it isn't free is it.

By all means provide an education upto A level, after that do it yourself. A degree is NOT essential in the working market. I never did one until many years later which I funded myself after I worked hard and proved I was capable and thats how I went up the ladder.

[justincyder]

It could of course, be argued that the government plans could have the opposite effect to the one that you imply i.e. if I want to spend ?45K having the time of my life partying, the best thing to do is to do a degree "that is not worth a jot" and then ensure that I dont earn more than ?21K a year, index linked year on year so I never have to pay any of it back.


Yes you're right it could but as I have indicated in another post, having a degree is not essential to getting on in the job-market. Yet alot of my friends and indeed brother as mentioned have degrees that have ultimately proved to be of no benefit to them at all. So perhaps the debt may make those who ultimately are going to uni to kill 3 years actually think about their life choices a bit more. Or chuck in another clause - if you get less than a 2:1 then you have to pay it back if you get 2:1 or higher then well you've shown that you actually did the work expected of you so ok you get it at a reduced amount.

and yes obviously take into account people being ill, having family crisis, pet cat dies etc.

[justincyder]

hear hear masie, I left home at 18 and worked hard to get where I am, its not as difficult as some people like to think.

And before I hear all the but there are no jobs, balls everytime i walk past the employment agency there are plenty of jobs, its just people have become far too fussy about what they are prepared to do.

[Ned]

It is pretty certain that the ultimate bollocks degree, media studies, never got anyone a job in media. I used to know a stack of people who worked in media (BBC included) and nobody had done that degree, or knew anyone working at any level in the media, press tv or radio, who had done it either.

[David Johnson]

There are a number of people in this thread that seem to differentiate between "useful" degrees e.g. science, engineering, medicine and "useless" degrees e.g. humanities, media studies etc. The division between the two categories seems to based on whether you can get a job or not. The attitude with several, appears to be: is it going to give you a job - kushty; if there's no chance, piss off and pay for it yourself, you twatttttttttttt.

As I have said elsewhere, it aint as easy as that boys and girls.

Here is a graduate survey of 2009 graduates 6 months of graduation to see what they are up to.

http://www.gradfutures.com/blog/2010/11 ... ee-subject

First of all graduate unemployment is at its highest for 17 years. Secondly, some of the figures dont seem to tally very well with the prejudices described in the first paragraph.

For example, in Physics, only 40% are employed and the second highest sector for that employment is Retail, Catering, Waiting and Bar work. Only 8% are in a scientific research, development and analysis role.

Art and Design, which I suspect a number of you might think is a course for twatttttts, has nearly 70% employed and the biggest sector for employment is Art, Design, Culture and Sports professionals at 30%.

There's statistics and statistics and as we know you can prove anything with them, but the idea that by tripling the fees it is going to get people to think more about what course is going to end up with a job, is nowhere near as easy as people seem to think.

Cheers
D