The Working Class Are Not Taking Degrees

A new study has suggested that the numbers of school leavers from the working class who go on to university is not growing at anywhere near the rate that the numbers from middle classes is. Just hold the thought that people have been paid to come up with this stuff.

I have a basic understanding of society and would suggest that working class families generally have less income than middle class families. The cost of university is rising and from September 2012 many universities will charge students £9000 per year for the privilege of having a place at their establishment, with no guarantee that that young person will secure a better job than his mates who didn't bother with university. The average 3 year course with fees, living expenses and anything else once can think of will amount to a spend (or should I say "borrow") of around £40-50,000, unless the student becomes a hermit outside of lecture and seminar time, living off the land. Even if they did that, they'd still be around £30,000 in debt by the end.

If I were a young person from a working class family I think I'd pass up the opportunity, don't you. In fact I'm middle class (in theory) and I wouldn't encourage anyone to go to university who isn't going to do a worthwhile degree, and by that I mean, avoid subjects that may well be interesting, but ultimately have little use. For some reason anthropology springs to mind, which is probably unfair on anthropologists around the world, but I may have been checking out the wrong press, but I haven't noticed too many vacancies for an anthropologist in the well paid job section.

There's also the issue of what you think you might get in your degree. If it's lower than a 2:1 I wouldn't bother. Graduates are ten-a-penny in the job world; you are better off getting some experience in work, and if you're lucky, getting paid whilst doing it.

This will have a knock-on effect to the likes of teaching and nursing, professions that require a degree or equivalent. The greed of the universities has made these, not that well paid jobs, even less desirable as you could end up paying off your university debts throughout your thirty plus year career. Unless a rich relative dies of course - morbid, but true I'm afraid.

It's the sort of article and study that I usually ignore, but this one just made me angry as those who've compiled this statement of the obvious have probably been paid a lot of money to do so - more than a teacher or a nurse at any rate.