Is University Still Worth It?
Is University Still Worth It?
As a graduate from the traditional university route to now working as an outreach officer for a university which offers both traditional and alternatives such as the degree apprenticeship, I can provide informative and objective advice to the above question. Indeed, there are many pros and cons to both options: one option being free whilst the other comes with debt, one gives you flexible timetabling to travel and join sports clubs whilst the other gives you valuable work experience, one is work based learning, the other in a lecture theatre. There are many factors that prospective students need to consider before making their decision on which route is more suitable to them.
At this point I realised I was in job mode. With the intention of producing an interesting opinion article, my daily sales pitch to students crept its way in and turned this into an educational pamphlet- you know the type that overly enthusiastic parents pick up for a “useful read”.
Let’s try again shall we- I’ll try not to bring work home with me this time, though it’s pretty hard when your desk is also your dressing table but whatever...It was another day in isolation, I had worn out all of my other social media applications out so at my final straw, before complete boredom, I turned to LinkedIn for a scroll. It was there that I was motivated to write this article, upon finding this quote:
“Covid will act as an accelerator of change. Many people will realise that online courses and remote learning trump's travel, expenses, fees and poor quality of education they’re getting at uni. Uni is for many the worlds’ most expensive dating service, party planner and way to move out of your parents' house” Random Man on LinkedIn.
I will repeat that I have developed an ability to empathise with both sides of the argument, as my job is to provide students with information and guidance so they can make an informed decision as to whether to go to university or not. However, from a personal perspective, I wanted to respond by saying how dare you belittle my education and university experience. I wanted to defend my 18 years of education that was driven by the goal of getting into a good university. I wanted to defend my 3 years of hard work educationally, mentally and emotionally, as I experienced challenges in an entirely new stage of my life which meant dealing with everything was the biggest challenge of them all. Finally, despite feeling bitter about it, I even wanted to defend the huge student loan that I have only just started paying back. Yet if I put my pride to one side and remove the heroic narrative of my uni experience, the reality can actually be summed up in the words of the random man from LinkedIn - as the world’s most expensive dating service, party planner and way to move out of your parents' house...
Going to University at 18 years old meant that I finally gained some independence, as I moved 3 hours away from home. Although I may not have thrown many parties, I could definitely throw a decent pre-drinks party with lots of organised fun and games- luckily that’s what having friends who can throw a decent house party was for. The dating side of things, well, that was a little dry but let's not get into that elephant in the room. All in all, too many £1 jaeger bombs, daily naps, living in my dressing gown, a lot of bad hangovers and student discounted food to help cure those hangovers and so much drama in our friendship group that you could have written a novel about living at 4 Mortimer Road. Still, it was the best years of my life so far.
If all of those reasons were not enough to argue my point, I guess I’ll have to actually include the important stuff now so let's go back to the quote. Isolation has demonstrated that we can do many things online; shopping, working, socialising; I even tried an online escape room the other day but, in my opinion, a degree is just not one of them. Yes, there are many elements of university life which suggest it was a bit of a doss but all of those experiences gave me the opportunity to really learn about myself and gain confidence in who I was, whilst developing important values and skills. All of which, paired with the educational benefits are the foundations to what made me an employable graduate as well as just a more complete, happier person. I don't think I could have gained these results if I'd stayed at home and relied on alternative means of progressing into adulthood. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many success stories that prove alternative pathways can achieve all of those things and please don’t think that I am being hypocritical and belittling those options like the guy from LinkedIn did. I guess my point is that going to university is not just about the qualification anymore so by completing an online degree qualification you are only ticking one box out of thousands that can be ticked by completing that same qualification at university- the traditional way. What about all of the debt I hear you say? Well in reality, the “debt” is not like any other debt. It does not affect your credit score and it gets wiped after 30 years so let's call it a loan instead. It comes out of your bank like tax so you don’t even see it, it becomes just another bill to pay each month. Finally let’s say you’re earning a £25,700 salary you’ll pay back roughly £30 a month which in reality is a cheeky double date in nandos- see I told you I knew what I was talking about.
So, money and experiences aside, what about employability? Surely if the degree qualification that many employers ask for now can be gained both online and in person, you would just do it online? Well something I had to quickly learn after graduating and now through the guidance I provide prospective students, a degree is not quite enough on its own. When I started applying for graduate jobs, I soon realised that the ‘2:1 degree in any discipline’ was the most common starting line to job specifications. This could imply that all of the content learned at uni was a complete waste of time- employers don’t care about it. When in reality, 82% of employers don’t care what subject your degree is in because no matter what content you learned, the university degree develops a person’s skills which is the transferable aspect that employers ask for. Equally, by not asking for specific degrees, employers understand that graduates from different disciplines will offer unique traits, skills, knowledge and experiences as an employee- your USP’s are your strength. And then there’s all of the other experiences and opportunities that university offers. The flexible study time and term times allowed me to get part-jobs and work experience. Again, I developed those transferable skills but also, it did what it said on the tin, gave me experience of working in the real world of work. The student community and therefore networking opportunities allowed me to get involved in many different projects and in doing so I developed strong abilities to work with other people which is a vital quality both personally and professionally. Beyond that, with a fuller knowledge of the university package there are loads more amazing opportunities you can get involved in as a student. There are opportunities to complete a placement year in industry- paid work experience for a full year and an opportunity to trial run a certain career. Study abroad years- getting to not just travel but live in a new country, to learn the culture maybe the language. Mentoring and tutoring jobs, opportunities to give back to the community and help the future generation that need that extra support. Enterprise development opportunities like support to set up your own business, many opportunities to work with employers like working in a law clinic. In hindsight, I wish I had known about these opportunities more because my CV would have thanked me for it. So, this further motivates me to promote these experiences because I don’t want people to miss out like I did because I didn't do enough research. Again, I am not naive in thinking that these opportunities don’t exist elsewhere but I can imagine it requires a lot more independent work, a proactive mindset and graft. I know that at 18 years old I definitely did not have those skills and working with many 18 year olds in my job now, I know that many others also don’t have those skills to be able to progress and develop themselves without the structure of an institution to guide them.
However, for those of you still reading this thinking, nope university is definitely not for me, luckily the alternatives that the random man on LinkedIn talks of, are a great option- in particular the degree apprenticeship. I’m going to briefly step into job mode to further explain the degree apprenticeship for those that don't know what it is. So, you work full time for a company, get paid a full-time salary, you study for your degree in your own time, you graduate the same way with the hat and gown but you pay zero fees. For those of you keen beans interested in going straight into the world of work and earning money then this option is a great one for you. Of course, though, an opportunity this great is very competitive to get onto. Annoyingly as well, the education system does not equip students well enough to be good at interviews for this sort of role- these employers don't prioritise educational achievements but more so they look at your skills, work experience and passion for the role. So, if you’re fortunate enough to have had the initiative, support from family and information on how to develop yourself outside of the classroom then you’re one of the lucky people who may be able to get a degree apprenticeship. From an outreach perspective, a degree apprenticeship is great for students who learn better in a hands-on manner as opposed to in a classroom. But equally, if students have not had the best support growing up, have not had the opportunities for work experience and have not had those role models to drive them, then in reality, they would struggle to battle through the application process for a degree apprenticeship. That’s why it really does come down to each individual, there is not a one size fits all approach, so for many students comparing traditional and alternative routes is pointless because for many there is only one clear option.
So of course, there are many occasions where online courses are indeed extremely valuable and I do agree with the random man on LinkedIn that “Covid will act as an accelerator of change”. I hope the change has come for those already in a career, I hope people have used this time to self-reflect, explore different qualifications and learning opportunities online, in a book or in a podcast because that is definitely a benefit of online courses- anyone can do it at any time so why not add to your portfolio and get those extra qualifications you’ve always thought about doing- all from the comfort of your living room. I also hope that prospective students have used this time to research and evaluate the different options out there and really think about which one would suit them most. If I could go back, maybe I would try the degree apprenticeship route, maybe I would have developed different skills than I do now, made even more memories with my work friends, progressed even quicker in my career ladder and not have all the debt or loan as we agreed we’d call it. Hindsight is a dangerous thing, it always has you questioning what if I’d have done this, where would I be now. But that’s why my job is so rewarding as I can use the power of hindsight to help other students as they begin to think about their futures. So even though I may have an opinion on whether university is still worth it, the final decision comes down to you, you need to decide upon what worthy means to you and whatever you decide, make the most of it. Outreach officer over and out.
*If there were any parents reading this who were actually looking for that “useful read” then I apologise - feel free to ping me a message for some information or advice.
Written by Charlotte Coleman
Theatre and performance graduate from the University of Bristol, class of 2018. Now working in Student Recruitment and Outreach whilst attempting adult life in the big city of Brum. I am probably that person that takes life too seriously but I love creating, debating and discovering new things about myself. All of which I hope to overshare about in lighthearted but hopefully relatable writing.