We have all heard the stories about the lad who left school after his GCSEs and trained as a plumber, and who now earns £100,000 a year and drives a Porsche. No doubt these stories are true, but it isn’t likely that this would be a typical pattern for anyone’s life. There are certainly some people who will succeed without any real academic qualifications, but they have particular talents and personalities which will find some sort of success no matter what they do. For most of us it remains true that, despite the alarming costs of going to university, a degree remains a worthwhile investment, will open career doors to you which would not have been possible without the qualification, and will enrich your personal life forever.
Long term financial advantages
Most people will be considering this question from a financial point of view. What is the value of a degree? Avoiding hearsay and rumour, as well as Daily Mail type chatter, we can find the answer to this in the work of analyses made by financial experts. An investigation run by the consultants London Economics claims that the average earnings premium for anyone with a degree is £115,000 over a working lifetime, and a Master’s adds about £59,000. It also argues that a drop in the number of people going to university would be very damaging to the UK economy. If 30,000 fewer enrolled as undergraduates, the subsequent loss to the economy over 40 years would be £6.6 billion. The figures are quite persuasive. (See http://www.millionplus.ac.uk/research-policy/reports/latest-reports/report-whats-the-value-of-a-uk-degree)
You might feel that having a degree is of little use in securing a job, and this may be true for a while after graduation. Nevertheless, you will find employment eventually, and it is likely to be in the sort of career structure where the top positions are all occupied by people with degrees. Short-term thinking may mislead.
Other intangible benefits
And then there is the personal value of a university education. The deep satisfaction which can come from learning cannot be quantified in any measurable terms, nor can the understanding and richness of vision which can result from advanced academic work. This is something which will stay with you all your life and will make you the person you are. It will help you to understand and value the human world and to identify those qualities in others. For the ancients the goal of learning was wisdom. Of course we cannot be unrealistic in the modern world and ignore economic factors, but it is vital to remember that the purpose of education is firstly to civilize and enrich us, and to enable us to lead more fulfilling lives.
