Quote from: DeltaZero

Quote from: Dave

There are plenty of very well paid professions/vocations out there that dont require degrees.

For example?

Accountant, Stockbroker, Recruitment Consultant, Estate Agent, IT sales..

All of which can see you earning six figures at senior levels if you are any good.

I dont know alot about any of the above industrys so I cant comment (maybe someone else can) but I do read the Gaurdian on Thursday (when they have the IT supliment) and always look at the IT Jobs section - which has included sales jobs requiring IT literacy and I have never once seen it not ask for a degree.

Quote from: red

experience is what they want.

all depends on teh trade.

Completely true

You do not *need* a degree & tbh.. some degrees are next to useless anyway.

Most employers couldnt give a feck about someone who just scraped into uni and managed a 2.2 in sociology from XYZ polytechnic.

If some big firm is advertising for graduates then the fact you have a degree isnt going to set you apart but where you went to uni, what you studied (Economics or a Science looks better than any arty sh*te) whether you got a 2.1 or above and what you got in your A-levels will count.

Unless you are going for something specific (Engineering, Law, Medicine etc..) then most of the time a degree is simply a tool to get your foot in the door. There are many ways to get your foot in the door anyway so dont just do a degree simply for the sake of doing a degree.

There are plenty of very well paid professions/vocations out there that dont require degrees.

design you need a degree or they would laugh at you, all the way to the door.

tbh, of all the filty ritch people I know, non of them have degrees or degrees relevent to what they do

(I mean the filthy ritch people, not the just well off people)

Are such people going to increasingly be in the minority if degrees are becomming so widespread?

design you need a degree or they would laugh at you, all the way to the door.

Depends on the design you are doing, you need flair in a lot of cases such as ceramics or clothes, far more than you need a degree. There are some things you just cant teach. OK they often end up with an arty degree anyway but thats just proof of their capability and doesnt really teach them that much.

There are a lot of jobs in design where a degree is required though.

Not necessarily thought there will be a lot more graduates who have studied bullsh*t subjects at supposed universitys that only required Ds or Es at A-level to get in who will find that the only jobs they can get dont actually require a degree anyway.

Just because they dont require degree level knowledge dosent mean employers, when given the choice, wont choose someone with a degree (even if it is a "2.2 in philosophy from XYZ polytechnic") over someone who dosent?

Getting a 2.2 in philosophy from XYZ polytechnic after scraping through A-levels is going to be feck all use to anyone.

It may be feck all pratical use - indeed it might as well be a degree in jelly babies - but it may get you through round one of interviews whereas without a degree your application would be passed to the organisations head of bins (who probably has a degree in binology).

So that is 20k of debt (under new system) + 3 years worth of lost earnings

Agree, but would argue its an investment.

 & no better job prospects as a result.

Disagree, any degree gives you better job prospects.

Uni is not necessarily a good idea for everyone

110% agree. But I think the people it isnt a good idea for are the people who simply dont have the potential to meet the demands of a job other than a morrisions supervisor. I dont think you can decide not to go to uni to avoid the debt and expect graduate type oppertunities/jobs.

 and I dont think it is a great idea to encourage 50% of the population to go.

Undecided on that one!

Quote

Just because they dont require degree level knowledge dosent mean employers, when given the choice, wont choose someone with a degree (even if it is a "2.2 in philosophy from XYZ polytechnic") over someone who dosent?

I think youll find that someone with 3 years relevant work experience has far better prospects than someone with a degree like that.

Quote from: DeltaZero

 I dont think you can decide not to go to uni to avoid the debt and expect graduate type oppertunities/jobs.

That depends entirely on what you want to do. There are plenty of careers out there that pay very well and dont require degrees. There are plenty of graduates & non graduates doing these careers and the only thing that really matters is thier performance on the job.

Unless your talking about an electrician or labourer... dont think so, the better prospects are with the degree takers.