Research in the UK has revealed that a third of university students regret signing up for a degree course. The report published by insurance giant, Aviva, discovered that the majority of students only had around £150 left after paying for living costs. Many more felt that a degree education was not helping them pursue their chosen career and some complained that they could have achieved their current job without a degree. So, is this criticism of the further education system fair – or are students simply whining about nothing?
Not surprisingly, universities universally condemned the Aviva research. They pointed out that a largescale study conducted on final year students from bricks and mortar institutions as well as MSN online programs, found that there was an overall satisfaction rate of 86% amongst the student body. However, despite the high satisfaction levels reported from the majority of students interviewed during the Annual Student Survey, there is no getting away from the fact that higher education is prohibitively expensive and many kids from poorer families are unable to attend university.
The financial burden carried forward from a university education is immense. Even students who sign up for a masters in nursing online course are obliged to pay course fees. In 2014, The Economist reported that the average student loan debt in the U.S. was $1.2 trillion. As a result, many millennials are struggling to survive post-college.
Many students end up more than $100k in debt, even if they never completed their masters of science in nursing online course. Because of this, they are only ever one paycheck away from a crisis and saving enough money to put down a deposit on a home is an unattainable dream. No matter how careful you are, without a six-figure paycheck coming in, you are only ever chipping away at your student debt month in, month out. It is, quite literally soul destroying. Not surprisingly, most students baulk at taking on more debt in the form of a mortgage – assuming they can even afford to make the repayments.
However, help is available for seriously indebted students – if they live in the right place. In recognition of the immense level of debt affecting students, some towns and states in the U.S. have started schemes to help young people shrug off the shackles of debt and save towards a home deposit. Other schemes offer to take over the student’s debt. The downside of this program is that millennials have to relocate to less attractive inland cities that most young people would avoid like the plague: goodbye Los Angeles, hello rural Kansas.
Despite the pain of student loans and course fees, in many cases a degree or master’s program is the only viable route into some career paths. Can you imagine becoming a doctor without studying for a degree in medicine first? Exactly, it just wouldn’t happen!
It is difficult to study for a degree without accruing debt, but try to help yourself by not spending frivolously and always work part-time if your studies allow.