Getting into debt to get ahead!

It used to be said that the two most expensive purchases the average person would make in life would be buying a car and a house. To that you can now, quite demonstrably, add higher education. The OECD has just published its annual education survey, which notes that students in England now pay the highest undergraduate tuition fees in the developed world.

Since the change in 2012 which permitted universities to treble their tuition fees, our students have been forced to take a serious financial decision as to whether or not they want to be build a career saddled with such a burdensome amount of debt.

For all but the richest in society, opting for university is a guarantee of debt.

Although the OECD report states that the investment is worth it, as graduates are likely to earn twice as much on average than those who don’t enter higher education, one has to question how long that will continue given the current economic climate, and with more students than ever progressing to university. With young people constantly being identified as among the most hard done by in many recent reports on wages and employment prospects, the decision to take on such a daunting level of debt has become more significant than ever.

During their GCSE and A Level studies, those aspiring undergraduates will be told about the things they need to do to ensure their future academic success – how to study, how to revise for exams, how to focus on their degree subjects not their social life – all in the hope that they’ll come out at the other end clutching a certificate that will open doors for them.

For many, they will need to hold down a job while studying (assuming they can find one), as well as learning how to pay their own bills for the first time. They will need to learn how to negotiate with landlords, banks and other organisations. They will need to budget carefully and learn to make decisions about the things they want versus the things they need. And they will need to avoid the most deadly of financial pitfalls – payday loans – when they’re running short of cash.

For all but the richest in society, opting for university is a guarantee of debt. If we are going to encourage young people to develop their career in this way, then we need to prepare them for all of the realities of university life, academic, social and financial. Which is why we need to start when they are in secondary education, thus giving them the skills they need to manage successfully their own independent adult lives.

It used to be said that the two most expensive purchases the average person would make in life would be buying a car and a house. To that you can now, quite demonstrably, add higher education. The OECD has just published its annual education survey, which notes that students in England now pay the highest undergraduate tuition fees in the developed world.

Since the change in 2012 which permitted universities to treble their tuition fees, our students have been forced to take a serious financial decision as to whether or not they want to be build a career saddled with such a burdensome amount of debt.

Although the OECD report states that the investment is worth it, as graduates are likely to earn twice as much on average than those who don’t enter higher education, one has to question how long that will continue given the current economic climate, and with more students than ever progressing to university. With young people constantly being identified as among the most hard done by in many recent reports on wages and employment prospects, the decision to take on such a daunting level of debt has become more significant than ever.

During their GCSE and A Level studies, those aspiring undergraduates will be told about the things they need to do to ensure their future academic success – how to study, how to revise for exams, how to focus on their degree subjects not their social life – all in the hope that they’ll come out at the other end clutching a certificate that will open doors for them.

Unfortunately, a focus on academic achievement is no longer adequate preparation for the situation they will find themselves in. They must also be taught how to manage their finances through three years of study, so that they don’t unnecessarily add to their already substantial debt.

For many, they will need to hold down a job while studying (assuming they can find one), as well as learning how to pay their own bills for the first time. They will need to learn how to negotiate with landlords, banks and other organisations They will need to budget carefully and learn to make decisions about the things they want versus the things they need. And they will need to avoid the most deadly of financial pitfalls – payday loans – when they’re running short of cash.

For all but the richest in society, opting for university is a guarantee of debt. If we are going to encourage young people to develop their career in this way, then we need to prepare them for all of the realities of university life, academic, social and financial. Which is why we need to start when they are in secondary education, thus giving them the skills they need to manage successfully their own independent adult lives.