Is your degree worth the paper that it's written on?

This is an interesting topic for me and a fairly emotive one given that it has plunged me into £15,000 worth of debt! I suppose the most publicised benefit of a degree is that it gives you greater access to a wider range of jobs, particularly those that are reserved for graduates. Before I joined University, a survery had revealed that 40% of jobs on an annual basis are reserved for graduates - these jobs inherently being better paid as well. For some of my friends, this has certainly turned out to be the case. One of my friends is earning 28k as a physiotherapist with the RAF having graduated this year, another of my friends has got a job with Barclay's ...  Read the complete review

In the blue corner, fighting for education and the worth of universities, William "The Dublin Destroyer" Yeeeeeats!!! In red, spitting on formal education and coughing up blood at the mention of a degree in Media Studies, Victor "The Beast of Besancon" Huuuggooooo!!! Ding-ding! Yeats dances out of his corner with a cocky swagger, lands with a cheeky jab! "Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire!" Hugo reels, but he's straight back at Yeats, and a sweeping left hook finds the Irishman! "Common sense is in spite of, not as the result of education!" The crowd are loving this - ...  Read the complete review

From a young age at school education was made out to be the way forward in life. Work hard at school and then you can go to Univeristy to get a degree. At school this seems very important, especially the older you get, when it comes to GCSE's your thinking about whats important and even more so when it come's down to A-levels. Then comes the whole contacting Universitys, the pressure of getting the amount of UCAS points required. Results are out and off to Univeristy you go, whether its one you selected or one through Clearing. When it came to University it was all I expexted and more, a complete different type of education, life education for ...  Read the complete review

This is a very important and fervently discussed topic amongst a lot of people - especially in recent years. For me, there are good and bad points about the degree I have, just like everything! But there are a few things I would have found helpful before I started: I think that first of all, there should be more information available to school pupils about careers. At my school, we were given an in depth questionnaire (I think it was called centigrade) which we filled in and got suggestions back from - none of the suggestions were very high scoring and I was still no closer to knowing what I wanted to do. We also had talks from a policeman and ...  Read the complete review

A first degree (needing a minimum of a 2:1) is really only useful if you are an civil engineer, geologist or hydrographic surveyor. There is a mass shortage in these areas especially in the civil, oil and cable laying industry.
The University makes a massive difference. Russell Group and 1984 degrees count for a lot if you intend to do a Masters degree or a PhD in a competitive sector.
70% of students may as well not bother. They are lazy, only want go out and the 'A' level grades are meaningless as a measure of intelligence.
Dentistry, law, nursing, finance, medicine et al have always classed a first degree as a first rung on the ladder.
People pick the easy degree too quickly because they want to have fun at Uni.
I had to get a Masters degree to do a PhD at a top 10 University.