"Is going to university worth it?"

The BBC has a Have-Your-Say section, where people can post their opinions on a topic. The title of the post is today's topic.

I am exactly halfway through my degree right now, chronologically; in terms of weighting, just under a third of the way through. I have friends that didn't go to university at all, and I have friends that dropped out. I have friends that are getting, or have got, degrees from the Open University. So, there's a lot of different university stories in there.

Reading the comments on the website, people are focusing on the debt and whether it's a good investment for a career that may never materialise. One even said that degrees with no direct employment benefit shouldn't be offered, so that students don't waste their money. That comment upset me; not everyone goes to university to just get a headstart up the corporate career ladder! I know it's not the common thing, but quite a few of my friends are looking to remain in academia, and their degree is the first step in getting the PhD, and then onto the office in the University of Sweet-and-Awesome. It's money you spend that never really gets the wages back, but you do your subject for love.

I am of the opinion that the 50% university attendance target the government has for school-leavers is absurd. One of the smartest people I knew at school dropped out of university, not because he wasn't smart enough, but because it wasn't the right place for him to be. He had a job that he could learn as he went, they offer training as he works and he's happier now, an employed university drop-out, than I saw him before. If that could be the case for someone academically bright, with three As at A-level, and all As and A*s at GCSE, I'd hate to think of less bright people who aren't suited to the academic environment and the self-disciple required to do a degree who feel like university is something you should do, simply because it's something you should do.

In a recession, some school leavers will fear the job market won't be able to offer them the career they want, and so defer it for three years by doing some degree that might not be useful, but simply buys time. I can't decide if this is good or bad. It's good to get a qualification, spending three years gaining skills that are needed to succeed at university. It's bad if you spend three years drinking, partying, not studying effectively, not learning skills, and scraping a pass. Nowadays, the big graduate employers are looking for 2:1 or above (2:2 if you're lucky and they are particularly interested in relevance of degree). So, it's not really worth it if you're not going to get that.

Also, there are more mature students hanging around - people who entered the job market, realised that a degree would quicken their progress up the career ladder and decided to study for something. That's what happened to my friend, but he kept working while getting a degree with the Open University. He's now got a degree, but I'm not entirely sure that's changed much for him.

So, back to the question. Is university worth it?

If you seek solace in the hushed corridors of a library, find comfort in a proof outlined on a blackboard, look forward to discussing Voltaire with intellectual peers, university is most definitely worth it. (Can't say they discuss his works much in my current workplace.)

If you want skills to progress in the career ladder, I reckon the Open University could be a good option. Working to gain practical skills, studying to gain the paper ticket to faster career progression. It does depend on which career you want though. Some financial careers use so much maths that it's best to get a good degree in Maths or Statistics so that you can actually do the work!

If you're buying time, it's probably not worth it. You might lack the academic motivation to do well, and end up with a classification that will say to employers, "I spent three years partying, not studying".

For me, I'd say my choice to university was half love-of-academia, half buying-time. That's generally served me quite well so far. I've lost motivation at times, but my not-so-secret passion for maths always comes through to save me. And, I've proved to be smarter than I thought I was (although everyone claims they knew I was that smart already!) And, I met the best man in the world. So, is it worth it?

Most definitely, yes.